JUN  18  1897 


A 


BR  1700  .F35  1897 
Farmer,  Silas,  1839-1902. 
Champions  of  Christianity 


•1 


MICHAEL    FARADAY 


CHAMPIONS 


OF 


CHRISTIANITY 


By  SILAS  FARMER 

Author  of  "History  of  Detroit  and  Michigan,"  "The  Royal 

Railroad,"  "  The  Truth  Teller,"  "  The  Teacher's 

Tool  Chest,"  etc. 


NEW  YORK :  EATON  &  MAINS 
CINCINNATI  :    CURTS    &    JENNINGS 


Copyright  by 

EATON  &  MAINS, 

1897. 


Eaton  &  Mains  Press, 
150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 


PREFACE 


THE  Bible  says,  "Not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble,  are  called." 

This  is  true  of  necessity,  for  the  number  of 
the  mighty  and  noble  has  always  been  small 
compared  with  the  whole  number  of  persons. 

This  work,  in  its  Christian  testimonies,  dif- 
fers from  all  other  works  in  that,  instead  of 
giving  merely  a  biographer's  statement,  it 
gives  the  very  words  of  the  mighty  and  noble 
of  various  nationalities,  vocations,  and  pursuits, 
verified  in  each  case  by  reference  to  volume 
and  page,  so  that  every  quotation  is  like  a 
citation  in  a  legal  brief. 

Condensed  biographies  are  given  of  each 
person  quoted,  in  order  that  the  collateral 
facts  of  their  personality  and  achievements 
may  strengthen  and  reinforce  the  testimony 
they  give.  The  number  of  persons  quoted  in 
each  vocation  is  limited  to  two,  because  other- 
wise the  volume  would  be  too  unwieldy  and 
expensive  for  general  use.  All  persons  named 
are  well  and  widely  known,  and  not  dependent 


6  PREFACE. 

upon  temporary  public  position  for  notoriety, 
and  the  personal  character  of  each  is  believed 
to  be  unimpeachable. 

All  direct  statements  have  been  selected 
with  a  view  to  their  use  by  others  as  quota- 
tions, and  it  is  believed  that  they  will  be  found 
very  serviceable. 

Most  of  the  testimonies  are  in  themselves 
valuable  arguments  in  favor  of  Christianity 
and  against  forms  of  unbelief.  Some  of  them 
admirably  exemplify  Christian  life,  thought, 
and  service,  and  as  a  whole  they  constitute  an 
excellent  religious  tonic. 

The  Author. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE 5 

CHAPTER  I.  The  Gage  of  Battle ii 

CHAPTER  II.     Champions     from     the     Govern- 
mental World 19 

Statesmen :  Bismarck,  Gladstone.  Patriots : 
Washington,  Garibaldi.  Jurists:  Blackstone, 
Story .  Generals  :  Moltke,  Grant.  Admirals:  Blake, 
Farragut. 

CHAPTER    III.     Champions     from     the     Social 

AND  Business  World 37 

Philanthropists  :  Howard,  Cooper.  Physicians  : 
Harvey,  Jenner.  Surgeons :  Simpson,  Agnew. 
Lawyers  :  Erskine,  Webster.  Merchants  :  Dodge, 
Williams.     Explorers  :  Raleigh,  Stanley. 

CHAPTER  IV.     Champions    from    the     Artistic 
World 59 

Painters  :  Michael  Angelo,  Allston.  Engra- 
vers :  Durer,  Bewick.  Potters :  Palissy,  Wedg- 
wood. Architects:  Wren,  Scott.  Composers: 
Handel,  Havdn. 


8  CONTENTS. 

PAGB 
CHAPTER  V.    Champions    from    the    Literary 

World 75 

Printers  :  Gutenberg,  Caxton.  Editors  :  Hol- 
land, Bryant.  Philologists  :  Muller,  Sayce.  Egyp- 
tologists :  Lepsius,  Elmers.  Lexicographers :  John- 
son, Webster.  Historians  :  Carlyle,  Guizot.  Poets  : 
Milton,  Whittier.     Novelists  :  Scott,  Dickens. 

CHAPTER  VI.     Champions  from    the    Scientific 
World loi 

Astronomers :  Galileo,  Herschell.  Physicists  : 
Brewster,  Henry.  Geologists:  Eyell,  Dawson. 
Chemists :  Davy,  Faraday.  Botanists :  Linnaeus, 
Gray.  Naturalists  :  Cuvier,  Agassiz.  Ornitholo- 
gists :  ^i\?>on,  Aw^nhow.  Mathematicians:  New- 
ton, Hamilton.     Inventors  :  Watt,  Morse. 

CHAPTER  VII.     The  Award I33 

INDEX.. 137 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Michael  Faraday Frontispiece 

David  G.  Farragut i8 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh , 36 

John  Milton 58 

Sir  Walter  Scott 74 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse 100 


CHAMPIOiNS  OF  CHRISTIANITY, 


CHAPTER    I. 
The  Gage  of  Battle. 

CHRISTIANITY  fearlessly  throws  down 
the  gauntlet  and  defies  its  enemies. 

If  all  the  learned,  influential,  and  notable 
doubters,  infidels,  atheists,  and  agnostics  were 
gathered  together,  their  nunr>bers  would  •  not 
supply  officers  for  the  champions  that  Chris- 
tianity has  in  the  field. 

Christianity  can  afford  to  be  weighed,  meas- 
ured, and  estimated  by  the  character  and 
ability  of  those  who  have  accepted  its  teach- 
ings. The  men  and  the  women  who  have 
achieved  the  largest  and  most  lasting,  the 
most  definite  and  valuable  results  in  literature 
and  learning,  industry  and  invention,  including 
the  best-known  leaders  in  the  political,  legal, 
commercial,  artistic,  literary,  or  scientific  world, 
were  believers  in  God  and  the  Bible. 

Our  unbelieving  friends  sometimes  say  that 
"  the  churches  are  made  up   of   women  and 


12  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

children."  Women  and  children  may  be  at 
one  end  of  the  line,  but  the  wisest  and  greatest 
men  are  at  the  other  end,  and  if  they  believe 
in  Christianity,  all  persons  of  lesser  note  would 
do  well  to  accept  the  belief  of  their  superiors 
in  ability  and  learning. 

Irreligion  has  fought  persistently  against 
evidence,  and  has  always  been  ready  with  a 
word  and  a  blow ;  but  the  words  of  Beza,  the 
Reformer,  to  the  King  of  Navarre  are  as  true 
to-day  as  when  uttered.  "  Sire,"  said  he,  "  it 
belongs  truly  to  God's  Church  rather  to 
suffer  blows  than  to  strike  them  ;  but  let  it  be 
your  pleasure  to  remember  that  the  Church  is 
an  anvil  which  hath  worn  out  many  a  ham- 
mer." 

Christianity  has  as  its  defenders : 

Statesmen,  comprehensive,  resourceful,  ca- 
pable, and  successful  in  all  governmental  and 
administrative  problems. 

Patriots,  whose  pure  and  lofty  principles  and 
labors  have  made  their  names  synonyms  of 
progress  in  humanity  and  liberty. 

Jurists,  whose  analyses  of  legal  principles 
and  learned  elucidations  of  the  laws  of  equity 
are  universally  known  and  recognized. 

Generals,  whose  military  combinations,  un- 
yielding perseverance,  and  masterful  achieve- 
ments have  never  been  excelled. 


THE    GAGE    OF    BATTLE.  1 3 

Admirals,  whose  skillful  and  victorious  battles 
on  the  sea  blazoned  their  names  forever  on  the 
roll  of  fame. 

Philanthropists,  the  memory  of  whose  deeds 
perfumes  all  lands. 

Physicians,  who  unveiled  marvels  and  mys- 
teries in  the  human  frame,  relieving  and  saving 
millions  of  lives. 

Lawyers,  with  legal  foresight,  forensic  powers, 
and  eloquence  unsurpassed. 

Merchants,  whose  multiplied  business  ven- 
tures reached  all  lands,  and  whose  name  and 
fame  reached  everywhere  as  well. 

Explorers,  venturesom^e,  courageous,  and  de- 
termined, braving  all  dangers  and  succeeding 
against  all  odds. 

Painters,  whose  creations  will  charm  and  cap- 
tivate for  centuries  to  come. 

Engravers,  able  to  interpret  thought,  emo- 
tion, and  color  with  a  mere  graver's  line. 

Potters,  with  unrivaled  perseverance  and  un- 
surpassed inventive  skill,  creators  of  a  multi- 
tude of  forms  of  artistic  beauty. 

Architects,  who  thought  in  perspective,  pro- 
ducing structures  wondrous  in  their  service, 
symmetry,  and  strength. 

Composers,  whose  souls  were  saturated  with 
harmonies   from,    heaven,   and   whose    strains 
transport  one  thither. 
2 


14  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

Printers,  who  made  literature  and  the  Bible 
possible  in  every  tongue. 

Editors,  who  inspired  pure  and  patriotic 
thoug-ht  in  the  breasts  of  countless  thousands. 

Philologists,  hearing  and  comprehending  all 
the  voices  of  the  past,  by  whomsoever  and 
wheresoever  uttered. 

Egyptologists,  readers  of  symbols  and  hiero- 
glyphs, unravelers  of  ancient  mysteries. 

Lexicographers,  teachers  of  millions  and 
torchbearers  for  all  literature. 

Historians,  accustomed  to  trace  effect  to 
cause,  discerners  of  the  secret  springs  of  mo- 
tive, and  definers  of  the  results  of  action. 

Poets,  full  of  all  the  noblest,  kindest,  holiest, 
and  purest  thoughts  and  fancies,  speaking  to 
hearts  in  every  land. 

Novelists,  who  projected  imaginations  into 
realities — men  full  of  thought,  feeling,  and 
action,  able,  for  the  time,  to  live  as  many  lives 
as  their  characters  portray. 

Astronomers,  travehng  paths  frequented  by 
God  himself,  and  weighing,  naming,  and  meas- 
uring his  mightiest  works. 

Geologists,  who,  in  rocks  and  stones,  read  the 
hieroglyphs  of  the  Maker. 

Physicists,  interpreters  and  revealers  of 
nature's  laws,  making  known  facts  before  un- 
known. 


THE    GAGE    OF    BATTLE.  I  5 

Chemists,  originators  of  mysterious  sub- 
stances, producers  of  combinations  and  ma- 
terials that  had  escaped  all  other  ken. 

Botanists,  naming,  describing,  and  classify- 
ing all  plant  life. 

NaturalistSjfollowing  each  beast  to  its  lair  and 
capturing  every  fish  of  the  sea,  and  mastering 
and  analyzing  their  habits  and  structure. 

Ornithologists,  familiar  with  all  bird  life, 
drawing,  coloring,  and  describing  with  detail 
and  perfection. 

Mathematicians,  solving  problems  so  intri- 
cate and  abstruse  that  few  persons  understand 
the  formulae  they  use. 

Inventors,  who  in  the  service  of  mankind 
harnessed  and  utilized  the  most  dangerous, 
occult,  and  subtle  forces  of  nature. 

All  these  are  true  and  knightly  men,  and 
many  bear  the  title.  Each  wields  his  own 
battle-ax,  lance,  or  broadsword,  and,  as  he 
throws  the  gauntlet  down,  his  challenge  rings 
out  loud  and  clear  and  strong. 


Cbamplons  from  tbe  (Bovernmental 

MorlD. 


DAVID    G.    FARRAGUT. 


FROM    THE    GOVERNMENTAL   WORLD.      1 9 


CHAPTER   II. 
Champions  from  the  Govermncntal  "World* 

STATESMEN,   PATRIOTS,   JURISTS,    GENERALS,   AND 
ADMIRALS. 

Count  Otto  Eduard  Leopold  von  Bismarck, 
statesman,  was  born  at  Schonhausen  April  i, 
1815. 

He  is  the  most  noted  German  statesman  of 
the  century,  and  one  of  the  most  noted  of  all 
time.  He  served  as  ambassador  to  Russia 
and  France,  had  much  to  do  with  the  creation 
and  establishment  of  the  German  empire,  and 
became  chancellor  of  the  same. 

In  a  debate  in  1847  ^e  said:  ''  For  me  the 
words,  '  by  the  grace  of  God,'  affixed  by 
Christian  rulers  to  their  names,  form  no  empty 
sound  ;  but  I  see  in  the  phrase  the  acknowl- 
edgment that  princes  desire  to  sway  the 
scepter,  intrusted  to  them  by  the  Almighty, 
according  to  God's  will  on  earth.  I,  however, 
can  only  recognize  as  the  will  of  God  that 
which  is  contained  in  the  Christian  gospels."  ' 

'  Life  of  Bismarck.  By  J.  G.  L.  Hesekiel.  London  :  J. 
Hogg  &  Son.     1870.    Page  155. 


20  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

At  another  time  he  wrote  :  "  I  would  to  God 
that,  besides  what  is  known  to  the  world,  I 
had  not  other  sins  upon  my  soul,  for  which  I 
can  only  hope  for  forgiveness  in  a  confidence 
upon  the  blood  of  Christ.  .  .  .  Among  the 
multitude  of  sinners  who  are  in  need  of  the 
glory  of  God  I  hope  that  his  grace  will  not 
deprive  me  of  the  staff  of  humble  faith,  in  the 
midst  of  the  dangers  and  doubts  of  my 
calling,  by  wdiich  I  endeavor  to  find  out  my 
path." ' 

William  Ewart  Gladstone,  statesman,  was 
born  at  Liverpool  December  29,  1809. 

In  1832,  when  only  twenty-three  years  of 
age,  he  became  a  member  of  the  English  Par- 
liament, and  has  repeatedly  served  as  prime 
minister. 

He  is  a  famous  orator,  and  noted  as  an 
author  on  a  variety  of  difficult  subjects. 

In  one  of  his  articles  he  says :  "  If  we  survey 
with  care  and  candor  the  present  wealth  of 
the  world — I  mean  its  wealth  intellectual, 
moral,  and  spiritual — we  find  that  Christianity 
has  not  only  contributed  to  the  patrimony  of 
man  its  brightest  and  most  precious  jewels, 
but  has  likewise  been,  what  our  Saviour  pro- 

'  Li/e  of  Bismarck.  By  J.  G.  L.  Hesekiel.  London  :  J. 
Hogg  &  Son.     1870.     Page  358. 


FROM    THE    GOVERNMENTAL   WORLD.      2  1 

nounced  it,  the  salt,  or  preserving  principle,  of 
all  the  residue."  ^ 

"  Whether  we  refer  to  the  Scriptures  or  to 
the  collateral  evidence  of  history  and  of  the 
Church,  we  find  it  to  be  undeniable  as  a  fact 
that  Christianity  purports  to  be,  not  a  system  of 
moral  teaching  only,  but,  in  vital  union  there- 
with, a  system  of  revealed  facts  concerning  the 
nature  of  God  and  his  dispensations  toward 
mankind.  Upon  these  facts,  which  center  in 
our  Lord  and  Saviour,  moral  teaching  is  to  rest, 
and  to  these  it  is  indissolubly  attached."* 

George  Washington, patriot,  president,  states- 
man, and  general,  was  born  in  Westmoreland 
County,  Va.,  February  22,  1732,  and  died  De- 
cember 14,  1799. 

As  general,  commanding  the  armies  of  the 
colonies  in  the  Revolution,  and  as  the  first 
President  of  the  United  States,  he  commended 
and  endeared  himself  to  the  entire  nation,  and 
in  private,  as  well  as  in  public,  life  was  a 
model  citizen. 

In  his  Orderly  Book,  under  date  of  July 
9,  1776,  he  says  :  *'  The  blessing  and  protection 
of  Heaven  are  at  all  times  necessary,  but  espe- 

'  Gleanings  of  Past  Years.    By  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone, 
M.P.     New  York  :  Chas.  Scribner's  Sons.     Vol.  vii,  page  78. 
^  Ibid.     Vol.  vii,  page  184. 


22  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

ciallyso  in  times  of  public  distress  and  danger. 
The  general  hopes  and  trusts  that  every  officer 
and  man  will  endeavor  to  live  and  act  as  be- 
comes a  Christian  soldier  defending  the  dearest 
rights  and  liberties  of  his  country."  ' 

In  a  letter,  dated  August  20,  1778,  in  speaking 
of  the  war,  he  used  these  words  :  *'  The  hand  of 
Providence  has  been  so  conspicuous  in  all  this 
that  he  must  be  worse  than  an  infidel  that  lacks 
faith,  and  worse  than  wicked  that  has  not  grati- 
tude enough  to  acknowledge  his  obligations."* 

In  a  circular  letter  to  the  governors  of  the 
States,  on  the  disbanding  of  the  army,  he  says: 
*'  I  now  make  my  earnest  prayer  that  God 
would  have  you  and  the  State  over  which  you 
preside  in  his  holy  protection,  .  .  .  and  that 
he  would  be  most  graciously  pleased  to  dispose 
us  all  to  do  justice,  to  love  mercy,  and  to  de- 
mean ourselves  with  that  charity,  humility, 
and  pacific  temper  of  mind  which  were  the 
characteristics  of  the  divine  Author  of  our 
blessed  religion."  ^ 

Guiseppe    Garibaldi,    patriot,    was   born    at 
Nice  July  4,  1807,  and  died  June  2,  1882. 
His   history   is    remarkable.     A    sailor    by 

^  The    Writings  of  George  Washington.  By  Jared  Sparks. 
Boston  :  Little,  Brown  &  Co.     1858.     Vol.  xii,  page  401. 
2  Ibid.    Vol.  xii,  page  402.  ^  Ibid.    Vol.  xii,  page  403. 


FROM    THE    GOVERNMENTAL    WORLD.      23 

education,  he  became  a  noted  general,  and  on 
both  sea  and  land  was  recognized  as  almost 
invincible.  For  many  years  he  aided  patriot 
forces  in  South  America,  and  subsequently 
visited  the  United  States.  Returning  to  Italy, 
he  became  a  conspicuous  leader  and  important 
factor  in  promoting  and  establishing  the 
present  constitutional  kingdom  of  Italy. 

His  autobiography  says  :  *'  To  the  piety  of 
my  mother,  to  her  beneficent  and  charitable 
nature,  do  I  not  perhaps  owe  that  little  love 
of  country  which  has  gained  for  me  the 
sympathy  and  affection  of  my  good  but 
unfortunate  fellow-citizens?  ...  I  have  be- 
lieved in  the  efficacy  of  her  prayers."  ' 

On  delivering  certain  flags  to  the  Hungarian 
Hussars  in  Naples,  he  said :  ''  I  am  a  Christian, 
and  I  speak  to  Christians.  I  am  a  good  Chris- 
tian, and  speak  to  good  Christians.  I  love  and 
venerate  the  religion  of  Christ,  because  Christ 
came  into  the  world  to  deliver  humanity  from 
slavery,  for  which  God  has  not  created  it."  ^ 

Sir  William  Blackstone,  jurist,  was  born  in 
London  July  10,  1723,  and  died  February  14, 
1780. 

*  Life  of  Genera!  Garibaldi.    By  Theodore  Dwight.     New 
York  :  Derby  &  Jackson.     1861.     Page  14. 
^Ibid.     Page  444. 


24  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

He  was  professor  of  law  at  Oxford,  wrote 
on  various  subjects,  but  is  chiefly  known  as 
the  author  of  Commentaries  on  EngHsh  Law, 
which  contain  the  fundamental  principles  of 
English  jurisprudence — a  work  so  complete 
that  no  other  has  displaced  it.  In  this  work 
he  says :  *'  Considering  the  Creator  only  as  a 
being  of  infinite  power,  he  was  able  unquestion- 
ably to  have  prescribed  whatever  laws  he 
pleased  to  his  creature,  man,  however  unjust 
or  severe.  But,  as  he  is  also  a  being  of  infinite 
wisdom,  he  has  laid  down  only  such  laws  as 
were  founded  in  those  relations  of  justice  that 
existed  in  the  nature  of  things  antecedent  to 
any  positive  precept.  .  .  .  He  has  so  intimately 
connected,  has  so  inseparably  interwoven  the 
laws  of  eternal  justice  with  the  happiness  of 
each  individual,  that  the  latter  cannot  be  at- 
tained but  by  observing  the  former ;  and,  if  the 
former  be  punctually  obeyed,  it  cannot  but  in- 
duce the  latter."  ' 

"  The  belief  in  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments,  the  entertaining  just  ideas  of  the 
moral  attributes  of  the  Supreme  Being,  and  a 
firm  persuasion  that  he  superintends  and  will 
finally  compensate  every  action  in  human  life 

1  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  England.  By  Sir  William 
Blackstone,  Knt.  Portland:  T.  B.  Wait  &  Co.  1807.  Book 
I,  pages  40,  41. 


FROM    THE    GOVERNMENTAL   WORLD.      2$ 

(all  of  which  are  clearly  revealed  in  the  doc- 
trines and  forcibly  inculcated  by  the  precepts  of 
our  Saviour  Christ) — these  are  the  grand  foun- 
dations of  all  judicial  oaths,  which  call  God  to 
witness  the  truth  of  those  facts  which  perhaps 
may  be  only  known  to  him  and  the  party  at- 
testing; all  moral  evidence  therefore,  all  con- 
fidence in  human  veracity,  must  be  weakened 
by  apostasy  and  overthrown  by  total  infi- 
delity." ' 

Joseph  Story,  jurist,  was  born  at  Marble- 
head,  Mass.,  September  i8,  1779,  and  died 
September  10,  1845. 

He  served  as  one  of  the  justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  was  pro- 
fessor of  law  at  Harvard  University,  and  was 
the  author  of  numerous  important  decisions 
and  of  various  law  volumes. 

In  a  charge  to  a  grand  jury  in  Boston,  he 
said :  "  We  believe  in  the  Christian  religion. 
It  commands  us  to  have  good  will  to  all 
men,  to  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves,  and 
to  do  unto  all  men  as  we  Avould  they  should 
do  unto  us.  It  declares  our  accountability  to 
the  supreme  God  for  all  our  actions,  and  holds 

*  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  England.  By  Sir  William 
Blackstone,  Knt.  Portland  :  T.  B.  Wait  &  Co.  1S07.  Book 
4»  page  43. 


26  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

out  to  US  a  state  of  future  rewards  and  punish- 
ments as  the  sanction  by  which  our  conduct  is 
to  be  regulated."  ' 

His  inaugural  address  on  the  opening  of 
the  Dane  Law  School  says :  "  One  of  the 
beautiful  boasts  of  our  municipal  jurispru- 
dence is  that  Christianity  is  a  part  of  the 
common  law,  from  which  it  seeks  the  sanction 
of  its  rights,  and  by  which  it  endeavors  to 
regulate  its  doctrines.  .  .  .  There  never  has 
been  a  period  in  which  the  common  law  did 
not  recognize  Christianity  as  lying  at  its  foun- 
dations." ^ 

In  a  letter  to  his  wife  he  says :  *'  Why  men 
cannot  rest  satisfied  with  the  common  princi- 
ples of  evidence,  by  which  all  human  con- 
cerns are  regulated,  to  govern  them  in  relation 
to  divine  things  I  confess  myself  unable  to 
see.  .  .  .  Christianity,  it  seems  to  me,  is  as 
conclusively  established  by  an  appeal  to  hu- 
man reason  for  its  evidence  and  its  truths,  as  it 
can  be  by  appealing  to  the  result  of  unknown 
powers  supposed  to  be  innate  in  the  mind, 
which  may  be  disputed,  and  have  ever  been  in 
dispute." ' 

*  Life  and  Letters  of  Joseph    Story.     By   his  son,  W.  W. 
Story.     Boston  :  Little  &  Brown.    185 1.    Vol.  i,  page  341. 
2  Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  8. 
2  Ibid,    Vol.  ii,  page  285. 


FROM    THE    GOVERNMENTAL    WORLD.      2/ 

Helmuth  Karl  Bernhard  Von  Moltke,  gen- 
eral, was  born  at  Parchim,  Germany,  October 
26,  1800,  and  died  April  24,  1 891. 

He  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  greatest  mili- 
tary strategists  of  either  ancient  or  modern 
times.  His  victories  over  the  Austrian  and 
French  armies  gave  evidence  of  his  com- 
manding military  skill.  He  was  the  re- 
cipient of  many  honors  from  the  German 
emperor,  and  was  made  field  marshal  of  the 
empire. 

On  one  occasion  he  said  :  "  Christianity  has 
raised  the  world  from  barbarism  to  civilization. 
Its  influence  has,  in  the  course  of  centuries, 
abolished  slavery,  ennobled  work,  emancipated 
women,  and  revealed  eternity.  .  .  .  The  ker- 
nel of  all  religions  is  the  morality  they  teach, 
of  which  the  Christian  is  the  purest  and  most 
far  reaching."  * 

Ulysses  Simpson  Grant,  general,  was  born 
at  Point  Pleasant,  O.,  April  27,  1822,  and  died 
July  23,  1885. 

His  name  and  fame,  as  the  most  success- 
ful soldier  in  the  war  with  the  South,  and 
as  a  wise,  patriotic,  and  judicious  President  of 

'  Moltke^  His  Life  and  Character.  Translated  by  Mary 
Herms.  New  York:  Harper  &  Brothers.  1892,  Pages  328 
and  329. 


28  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

the  United  States,  are  thoroughly  established. 
His  modesty  and  courage,  his  love  of  truth, 
and  his  endurance  of  mental  and  physical  pain 
during  the  last  months  of  his  life  endeared 
him  to  all  the  American  people. 

Kis  pureness  in  speech  was  remarkable,  es- 
pecially so  in  view  of  the  provocations  of  camp 
and  garrison  life.  In  his  Memoirs  he  says :  "I 
am  not  aware  of  ever  having  used  a  profane  ex- 
pletive in  my  life."  ^ 

In  accepting  from  President  Lincoln  a  com- 
mission as  lieutenant  general,  he  said  :  *'  I  feel 
the  full  weight  of  the  responsibilities  now  de- 
volving upon  me,  and  I  know  that  if  they 
are  met  it  will  be  due  to  these  armies,  and 
above  all  to  the  favor  of  that  Providence  which 
leads  both  nations  and  men."  ' 

One  of  his  old  chaplains  says  :  *'  Shortly 
after  I  came  into  the  regiment  our  mess  were 
one  day  taking  their  usual  seats  around  the 
dinner  table,  when  Colonel  Grant  remarked  : 

"'Chaplain,  when  I  was  at  home,  and  min- 
isters were  stopping  at  my  house,  I  always  in- 
vited them  to  ask  a  blessing  at  the  table.  I 
suppose  that  a  blessing  is  as  much  needed  here 
as  at  home ;  and  if  it  is  agreeable  with  your 

^Personal  Memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant.      New  York  :    C.   L. 
Webster  &  Co.     1S85.     Vol.  i,  page  106. 
2  Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  115. 


FROM   THE   GOVERNMENTAL  WORLD.     29 

views  I  should  be  glad  to  have  you  ask  a  bless- 
ing every  time  we  sit  down  to  eat.'  "  ' 

During  his  last  illness,  when  Dr.  Shrady 
asked  him  what  he  should  say  in  the  daily 
bulletin  about  his  condition,  he  said  :  **  I  wish 
you  would  also  express  my  gratitude  and  ap- 
preciation of  the  feeling  that  the  people  have 
shown  for  me  in  my  sickness,  and  for  the 
prayers  that  have  been  offered  in  my  behalf." ' 

Robert  Blake,  admiral,  was  born  at  Bridge- 
water,  England,  August  15,  1599,  and  died 
August  17,  1657. 

He  was  a  graduate  of  Oxford  and  an  excel- 
lent Greek  and  Latin  scholar.  During  his 
young  manhood,  and  just  prior  to  the  admin- 
istration of  Oliver  Cromwell,  the  vice  and  folly 
of  King  Charles  and  his  courtiers,  and  the 
moral  laxity  of  the  clergy,  created  general  un- 
rest and  dissatisfaction.  Blake  sided  with  the 
Puritans,  or  ''Roundheads,"  and  became  one 
of  their  most  celebrated  military  commanders. 
His  energy,  intrepidity,  and  persistent  courage 
have  been  seldom,  if  ever,  excelled  in  any  war 
or  at  any  time. 

^  James  L.  Crane,  late  Chaplain  21st  Illinois  Infantry,  U. 
S.  V.     In  McClwe's  Magazine  for  June,  1896.     Page  43. 

^  Life  and  Public  Services  of  U.  S.  Grant.  By  James 
Grant  Wilson.  New  York  ;  A.  T.  B.  De  Witt.  1885.  Page 
117. 

8 


30  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

When  the  warfare  was  transferred  from  land 
to  sea,  and  a  bold  and  judicious  officer  was 
needed  to  command  the  fleet  of  the  Common- 
wealth, they  turned  to  Blake,  as  one  who, 
though  he  had  but  slight  knowledge  of  sea 
affairs,  was  so  possessed  by  boldness  and  energy 
that  he  was  deemed  especially  qualified  for  the 
position  of  admiral. 

He  had  large  executive  ability,  and  his  over- 
sight extended  to  all  naval  matters,  on  shore 
and  shipboard.  He  won  notable  victories 
over  the  pirates  off  the  coast  of  Barbary, 
taught  Portugal,  Spain,  France,  and  Italy  to 
fear  him,  again  and  again  defeated  the  Dutch 
fleet  under  Van  Tromp,  and  for  the  first  time 
established  the  naval  supremacy  of  the  English. 

While  serving  as  commander  in  the  army, 
he  was  besieged  in  Taunton,  and  those  under 
him  were  reduced  to  great  privation  and  dis- 
tress for  want  of  food.  On  being  summoned 
to  surrender,  Blake  replied  that  he  had  not  yet 
eaten  his  boots,  and  he  should  not  dream  of 
giving  up  the  contest  while  he  had  so  excel- 
lent a  dinner  to  fall  back  upon  !  At  another 
time  he  said :  *'  We  wish  you  for  time  to 
come  to  desist  from  all  overtures  of  the  like 
nature  unto  us,  who  are  resolved,  to  the  last 
drop  of  our  blood,  to  maintain  the  quarrel  we 
have  undertaken,  and  I  doubt  not  but  the  same 


FROM   THE    GOVERNMENTAL   WORLD.      3 1 

God  who  has  hitherto  protected  us  will  bless 
us  with  an  issue  answerable  to  the  justice  of 
our  cause ;  however,  to  him  alone  shall  we 
stand  or  fall."  ' 

In  one  of  his  letters  are  these  words  :  "  We 
arrived  yesterday,  by  a  most  merciful  and  good 
hand  of  Providence  leading  us,  as  it  were,  by 
the  brink  of  destruction  into  safety.  For 
which  we,  in  our  gratitude,  have  great  cause 
everlastingly  to  praise  the  Lord  for  his  won- 
derful goodness,  and  to  rejoice  in  these,  his 
salvations,  with  fear  and  trembling."" 

David  Glasgow  Farragut,  admiral,  was  born 
in  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  July  5,  1801,  and  died 
August  14,  1870. 

In  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  and  Mobile 
during  the  civil  war  in  America  he  secured 
victories  equal  to  those  obtained  by  any  other 
admiral,  and  the  fleet  which  he  commanded  in 
sailing  against  New  Orleans  was  the  most  pow- 
erful that  ever  sailed  under  the  American  flag. 

As  a  token  of  appreciation  of  his  achieve- 
ments the  merchants  of  New  York  presented 
him  with  $50,000  in  government  bonds,  and 
Congress,  in  1866,  created  the  grade  of  admiral 

*  Li/e  of  Robert  Blake.      By  Hepworth  Dixon.     London : 
Chapman  &  Hall.     1852.     Page  78. 
2  Ibid.     Page  280. 


32  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

of  the  United  States  navy  and  conferred  the 
office  upon  Farragut.  The  following  year  he 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  European  squad- 
ron, and  visited  all  the  European  ports  and 
sovereigns.  He  dined  with  the  Emperor  of 
France,with  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine  at  St. 
Petersburg,  and  with  his  majesty,  the  King  of 
Sweden;  was  received  by  Queen  Victoria,  and 
by  Victor  Emmanuel,  of  Italy,  and  was  every- 
where feted  and  honored  in  an  unusual  manner. 

In  his  published  letters  the  spirit  of  faith  in 
and  dependence  upon  God  is  very  manifest. 
When  stationed  on  the  Mississippi  he  wrote 
to  his  wife  and  son  as  follows :  "  When  we 
shall  get  down  again  is  a  question  to  be  de- 
cided by  time  alone ;  but  the  same  great  God 
who  has  thus  far  preserved  me  will  still  preside 
over  my  destiny.  In  the  course  of  human 
longevity  I  have  not  long  to  live  ;  and,  although 
it  would  be  most  agreeable  to  spend  it  with 
you  both,  still  it  is  our  place  to  submit  pa- 
tiently to  his  will  and  do  our  duty."  * 

In  a  letter  to  his  son,  written  from  near 
Vicksburg,  he  says :  "  I  trust  in  God  for  your 
safe  arrival  home  to  the  embrace  of  your  dear 
mother.  .  .  .  She  knows  that  our  lives  are  al- 
ways in  the  hands  of  a  Supreme  Ruler.  .  .  . 

^  Life  of  David  Glasgow  Farragut.  By  Loyall  Farragut. 
New  York:   D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1879.     Page  271. 


FROM    THE    GOVERNMENTAL   WORLD.      33 

Do  as  little  wrong  as  the  weakness  of  your 
nature  will  permit,  and  as  much  good  as  you 
can  Pray  to  God  to  give  you  good  under- 
standing, and  keep  you  from  evil  and  protect 
you  from  harm."  * 

In  another  letter:  "The  worst  of  it  is  that 
people  begin  to  think  I  fight  for  pleasure.  God 
knows  there  is  not  a  more  humble  poor  creature 
in  the  community  than  myself.  I  shall  go  to 
church  to-morrow  and  try  to  return  suitable 
thanks  for  the  many  blessings  that  have  been 
bestowed  upon  me."  ^ 

*  Life  of  David  Glasgow  Farragut.     By  Loyall  Farragut. 
New  York  :   D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1870.     Page  355. 
2  Ibid.     Page  365. 


Cbampions  from  tbe  Social  anb 
J6u6ine66  Morl^ 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH. 


FROM    SOCIAL   AND    BUSINESS   WORLD.       3/ 


CHAPTER   III. 
Champions  from  Social  and  Business  Worlds 

PHILANTHROPISTS,   PHYSICIANS,  SURGEONS,   LAW- 
YERS, MERCHANTS,  AND  EXPLORERS. 

John  Howard,  philanthropist,  was  born  at 
Hackney,  England,  September  2,  1726,  and 
died  January  20,  1790. 

Among  all  who  have  served  the  cause  of  hu- 
manity he  stands  first.  Leaving  the  comforts 
of  an  elegant  home  he  traveled  from  city  to 
city  in  Europe  and  Asia,  visiting  almshouses, 
prisons,  and  jails  innumerable,  literally  taking 
his  life  in  his  hands,  in  order  that  he  might  re- 
form abuses  then  existing  in  all  places  of  de- 
tention. 

A  passage  in  one  of  his  letters  says  :  "  Jacob 
speaks  of  the  angel  who  had  been  his  guide  in 
all  his  journeys  and  had  delivered  him  from 
all  his  dangers;  and  Jacob's  God,  I  trust, 
is  my  God  and  my  guide  and  my  portion 
forever."* 

In  another  place  he  says  :  "  What  is  our  pro- 

*  Howard,  the  Philanthropist.  By  John  Stoughton.  Lon- 
don: Hodder  &  Stoughton.    1884.     Page  342. 


38  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

fession  of  religion  if  it  does  not  affect  our 
heart?  Shall  I  desert  his  cause?  O  God, 
may  I  through  divine  grace  persevere  to  the 
end !  My  end,  too,  is  approaching.  My  de- 
sire is  to  be  washed,  cleansed,  and  justified  in 
the  blood  of  Christ,  and  to  dedicate  myself 
to  that  Saviour  who  has  bought  us  with  a 
price."  * 

On  his  last  departure  from  England  he  said 
to  a  friend :  '*  We  shall  soon  meet  in  heaven  ; 
and  the  way  to  heaven  from  Grand  Cairo  is  as 
near  as  from  London."  ' 

Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  Earl  of  Shaftesbury, 
philanthropist,  was  born  in  London  April  28, 
1801,  and  died  October  i,  1885. 

His  gifts  and  labors  among  the  poor  and 
neglected  conferred  a  thousandfold  more  honor 
upon  him  than  all  the  titles  earth  could  give. 

He  threw  aside  political  preferment,  social 
power,  and  personal  ease,  that  he  might  fur- 
ther the  cause  of  humanity. 

He  did  more  than  any  other  philanthropist 
or  legislator  to  elevate  the  working  people. 
As  a  true  labor  reformer  he  was  the  means  of 

'  Howard^  the  Philanthropist.  By  John  Stoughton.  Lon- 
don :  Hodder  &  Stoughton.     1884.     Page  343. 

2  Life  of  John  Howard.  By  Rev.  J.  Field.  London : 
Longman,  Brown,  Green  &  Longmans.    1850.    Page  440. 


FROM   SOCIAL   AND    BUSINESS   WORLD.       39 

securing  the  cessation  of  the  use  of  children 
as  climbing  chimney-sweeps,  and  also  the 
respite  of  tens  of  thousands  of  children  from 
severe  labor  in  fields  and  factories. 

There  was  no  subject  pertaining  to  the  re- 
ligious, educational,  moral,  or  physical  well- 
being  of  the  people  in  his  own  land,  and  in 
many  other  lands  as  well,  in  which  he  did  not 
interest  himself;  and,  in  one  way  or  another, 
he  came  in  contact  with  nearly  all  of  the  wise 
and  good  and  great  of  his  time. 

On  the  opening  of  Costers*  Hall,  in  London, 
where  he  was  to  make  an  address,  about 
twenty  thousand  of  the  hawkers,  whom  he 
had  greatly  befriended,  met  him  a  mile  from 
the  building  and  acted  as  an  escort. 

While  he  was  in  Germany,  the  emperor  in 
person  paid  him  a  visit.  At  his  funeral  there 
were  representatives  from  over  two  hundred 
philanthropic,  educational,  religious,  and  work- 
ingmen's  societies,  with  all  of  which  he  had 
been  in  some  way  identified.  They  formed  a 
funeral  pageant  the  like  of  which  was  never 
before  seen. 

In  1871  he  wrote  in  his  diary  as  follows: 
"  Try  the  Scriptures  intellectually  merely,  and 
you  will  encounter  no  end  of  difficulties,  and 
these  difficulties  will  agitate  and  darken  your 
moral  and  spiritual  perception  of  the  truth. 


40  CHAMPIONS   OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

Try  them  by  the  heart,  and  you  will  find  such 
a  flood  of  comfort,  conviction,  and  assurance 
that  all  difficulties  will  vanish."  * 

In  speaking  on  missions  he  said :  "  Neutral- 
ity in  religion  is  impossible.  A  man  must 
either  believe  or  disbelieve.  If  he  disbelieves 
he  is  an  infidel,  and  that  is  the  end  of  the  mat- 
ter ;  if  he  believes  he  is  bound  by  every  con- 
sideration of  heaven  and  earth  with  all  his  soul, 
with  all  his  heart,  with  all  his  mind  to  labor 
that  the  word  of  the  Lord  may  have  free 
course  and  be  glorified." ' 

William  Harvey,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Folke- 
stone, England,  April  i,  1578,  and  died  June 
3,  1657. 

In  addition  to  his  wonderful  discovery  of 
the  circulation  of  the  blood,  he  was  at  the 
head  of  three  departments  of  science,  name- 
ly: comparative  anatomy,  physiology,  and 
medicine.  "  When  these  scarcely  had  a  be- 
ing he  evolved  them  into  living  forms  from 
chaos." 

"  He  was  used  to  say  he  never  dissected  the 
body  of  any  animal  without  discovering  some- 
thing which  he  had  not  expected  or  conceived 

^  Life  and  Works  of  the  Seventh  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,     By 
Edwin  Hodder.     London.     1886.     Vol.  iii,  page  19. 
'  Ibid,    Vol.  iii,  page  109. 


FROM    SOCIAL   AND   BUSINESS   WORLD.      4 1 

of,  and  in  which  he  recognized  the  hand  of  an 
all-wise  Creator."' 

In  his  will  he  thus  expressed  himself :  "I  do 
most  humbly  render  my  soul  to  Him  that  gave 
it,  and  to  my  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ." ' 

Edward  Jenner,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Berkeley, 
England,  May  17,  I749»  ^^^  ^'^^^  January  26, 
1823. 

His  discovery  of  vaccination  as  a  preventive 
of  smallpox  marks  a  distinct  era,  not  only  in 
the  treatment  of  that  dread  disease,  but  in 
general  medical  practice. 

As  soon  as  his  discovery  was  made  known 
and  demonstrated  all  nations  sought  to  do 
him  honor.  The  Emperor  of  Russia  issued 
a  special  ukase  with  regard  to  the  use  of  his 
discovery,  and  the  King  of  Spain  sent  a  surgeon 
all  around  the  world  to  make  it  known  in 
Spanish  possessions. 

He  was  presented  with  innumerable  addresses 
and  medals  by  learned  societies  and  by  various 
cities  and  communities,  accompanied  with  ex- 
pressions of  great  appreciation  and  gratitude. 

These  words  of  praise  have  been  supple- 
mented by  myriads  of  individual  testimonies, 

'  Eminent  Doctors.  By  G.  T.  Bettany.  London  :  John 
Hogg.     Vol.  i,  page  48.  '  Ibid.     Vol.  i,  page  46. 


42  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

and  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  his  discovery 
saved  millions  of  lives.  Napoleon,  in  a  spirit 
of  gratitude,  said  of  him,  ''  We  can  refuse 
nothing  to  that  man." 

On  one  occasion  Dr.  Jenner  said  :  "  I  am  not 
surprised  that  men  are  not  thankful  to  me  ;  but 
I  wonder  that  they  are  not  grateful  to  God 
for  the  good  which  he  has  made  me  the  instru- 
ment of  conveying  to  my  fellow-creatures."  ^ 

He  had  a  great  reverence  for  the  Scriptures, 
presenting  copies  to  various  relatives.  In  one 
of  them  he  wrote  the  name  of  the  recipient,  and 
expressed  the  hope  that  as  this  was  the  best 
book  that  ever  was  written,  "  she  will  give  it  not 
only  the  first  place  in  her  library,  but  convince 
those  who  love  her  dearly  that  it  occupies  the 
first  place  in  her  heart."  ^ 

At  another  time  he  remarked  :  **  The  sacred 
Scriptures  form  the  only  pillow  on  which  the 
soul  can  find  repose  and  refreshment.** ' 

Sir  James  Young  Simpson,  physician  and 
surgeon,  was  born  at  Bathgate,  Scotland,  June 
7,  i8ii,and  died  May  6,  1870. 

When  only  eighteen  years  of  age  he  gradu- 
ated from  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  at 

^Li/e  of  Edward  Jemier.     By  John  Baron,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 
London  :  Henry  Colburn.    1838.    Vol.  ii,  page  295. 
"^Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  295.  ^Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  446. 


FROM  SOCIAL  AND   BUSINESS  WORLD.      43 

Edinburgh,  and  four  years  later  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Medical  Society  of  the 
same  place.  He  was  subsequently  appointed 
one  of  the  queen's  physicians,  and  speedily  had 
an  extensive  clientele,  with  scores  of  titled  pa- 
tients and  a  large  general  practice  among  all 
classes.  His  professional  income  eventually 
reached  §50,000  per  year. 

He  is  most  widely  known  as  being  the  first  to 
bring  into  large  practice  the  use  of  chloroform, 
and  is  recognized  by  many  as  its  discoverer. 
His  introduction  of  this  anaesthetic,  which  has 
so  greatly  relieved  all  forms  of  sickness  and 
surgery  of  the  terror  of  pain,  placed  him  in  the 
very  front  rank  with  the  benefactors  of  the 
human  race.  He  wrote  on  many  subjects  con- 
cerning the  medical  profession,  and  was  also  a 
recognized  authority  on  many  archseological 
matters. 

One  of  his  addresses  contains  this  sentence  : 
"  If,  in  your  own  lodgings  in  the  dark  watches 
of  the  night,  you  are  troubled  with  a  thought 
about  your  soul,  if  you  hear  some  one  knock- 
ing at  your  heart,  listen.  It  is  He  who  said 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago  upon  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  *  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid.'  Open  the  door 
of  your  heart.  Say  to  him,  'Come  in.'  In 
Christ  you  will  find  a  Saviour,  a  companion,  a 
counselor,  a  friend,  a  brother,  who  loves  you 


44  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

with  a  love  greater  than  human  heart  can  con- 
ceive." ^ 

In  writing  to  one  of  his  sons  who  was  ab- 
sent and  about  to  return  home  he  says:  "And 
when  you  do  come  let  me,  as  your  loving  father, 
say  one  thing  more.  At  our  family  morning 
prayer  I  hope  you  will  always  be  present,  both 
to  show  your  love  to  the  King  of  kings  and  to 
be  a  fitting  example  to  your  two  little,  loving 
brothers.  O,  my  own  dear,  dear  Wattie,  let 
you  and  I  do  all  in  our  power  to  acknowledge 
Jesus  as  our  King  and  Saviour,  and  strive  to 
lead  others  to  his  feet  and  throne."  '^ 

David  Hayes  Agnew,  physician  and  surgeon, 
was  born  at  Noblesville,  now  Christiana,  Pa., 
November  24,  18 18,  and  died  March  22,  1892. 

He  was  graduated  when  twenty  years  of  age 
at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was  after- 
ward connected  with  various  medical  colleges, 
and  attained  world-wide  fame  as  an  anatomist 
and  surgeon.  In  the  most  difficult  and  dan- 
gerous operations  he  used,  with  equal  facility, 
either  hand.  He  devised  and  secured  the 
successful  manufacture  of  a  great  variety  of 
helpful  surgical   appliances,  now  known    and 

^Memoir  of  Sir  James  Y.  Simpson,  Bart.  By  J.  Duns, 
D.D.,  F.R.S.E.  Edinburgh  :  Edmondston  &  Douglas.  1873. 
Page  425.  2  Ibid.     Page  447. 


FROM    SOCIAL   AND    BUSINESS    WORLD.      45 

used  throughout  the  profession.  He  was  also 
one  of  the  first  to  adopt  antiseptic  surgery. 

He  wrote  scores  of  articles  for  various  med- 
ical and  surgical  journals,  and  is  the  author  of 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery,  a  work 
largely  reprinted  in  Japanese. 

The  spirit  in  which  he  practiced  his  profes- 
sion is  indicated  in  the  following  letter  to  a 
clergyman  who,  after  a  course  of  treatment 
running  through  two  years,  was  restored  to 
health.  In  reply  to  a  request  for  his  bill  Dr. 
Agnew  wrote :  **  That  I  have  been  permitted 
to  minister  to  your  relief,  and  through  the 
blessing  of  God  on  my  efforts  have  been  en- 
abled to  be  of  help  to  you,  is  a  source  of  great- 
est gratification  to  myself.  You  owe  me  noth- 
ing. To  your  Master  and  my  own  I  owe  all 
things,  and  to  serve  one  of  his  poor,  suffering 
messengers  is  but  a  little  service  rendered  to 
him  who  gave  himself  for  me.  All  I  ask  is 
that  you  pray  for  me  ;  that  is  the  richest  return 
that  you  can  make."  ' 

In  one  of  his  last  letters  he  wrote  :  "  Christ 
to  me  is  all,  and  my  aspiration  is  for  the  im- 
mortality to  come."'' 


'  History  of  the  Life  of  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  M.D.,  L.L.D. 
By  J.  Howe  Adams,  M.D.  Philadelphia  and  London;  The 
F.  H.  Davis  Company.     1892.      Page  292. 

"^Ibid.     Page  351. 
4 


46  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

Lord  Thomas  Erskine,  lawyer,  was  born  in 
Edinburgh  January  lo,  1750,  and  died  Novem- 
ber 17,  1823. 

He  served  in  the  navy  and  army,  and 
while  on  duty  in  the  latter  service  attracted 
the  attention  of  Justice  Lord  Mansfield,  was 
led  to  study  law,  and  in  his  very  first  plea  he 
achieved  a  notable  success,  and  soon  became 
the  most  noted  of  advocates,  the  greatest  in  all 
England. 

In  his  speech  on  the  prosecution  of  Wil- 
liams for  publishing  Paine's  Age  of  Reason  he 
said :  "  For  my  own  part,  gentlemen,  I  have 
been  ever  deeply  devoted  to  the  truths  of 
Christianity ;  and  my  firm  belief  in  the  holy 
Gospel  is  by  no  means  owing  to  the  prejudices 
of  education,  though  I  was  religiously  educated 
by  the  best  of  parents,  but  has  arisen  from  the 
fullest  and  most  continued  reflections  of  my 
riper  years  and  understanding.  It  forms  at 
this  moment  the  great  consolation  of  a  life 
which,  as  a  shadow,  passeth  away ;  and  with- 
out it  I  should  consider  my  long  course  of 
health  and  prosperity  too  long,  perhaps,  and 
too  uninterrupted  to  be  good  for  any  man,  only 
as  the  dust  which  the  wind  scatters,  and  rather 
as  a  snare  than  as  a  blessing."  * 

'  speeches  by  Lord  Erskine.  Edited  by  James  L.  High. 
Chicago:   Callaghan  &  Company.     1876.     Vol.  i,  page  575. 


FROM    SOCIAL   AND    BUSINESS   WORLD.      47 

Daniel  Webster,  statesman  and  lawyer,  was 
born  at  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  January  18,  1782, 
and  died  October  24,  1852. 

He  served  many  years  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  was  Secretary  of  State  under  Presi- 
dents Harrison,  Tyler,  and  Fillmore.  His 
commanding  powers  of  intellect,  powerful  argu- 
ments, and  masterful  oratory,  especially  in  the 
Dartmouth  College  and  Girard  will  cases,  and 
in  his  reply  to  Hayne  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  will  always  be  quoted  for  their  learning 
and  eloquence. 

During  his  last  sickness,  when  giving  "  direc- 
tions about  his  will,  he  said  that  he  had  always 
liked  the  old  fashion  of  commencing  such  in- 
struments with  religious  expressions,  and  with 
a  recognition  of  one's  dependence  upon  God." 
"  Follow  the  old  forms,"  said  he,  "  and  do  not 
let  me  go  out  of  the  world  without  acknowl- 
edging my  Maker."  * 

His  biographer  says  that  during  this  same 
illness,  **as  he  was  manifestly  about  to  say 
something  that  ought  to  be  preserved,  I  sat 
down  at  a  table  .  .  .  and  wrote  down  the 
words  just  as  they  fell  from  his  lips.  He  said  : 
*  My  general  wish  on  earth  has  been  to  do  my 
Maker's  will.     I  thank  him  for  all  the  mercies 

^  Life  of  Daniel  Webster.  By  George  T.  Curtis.  New 
York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1870.     Vol.  ii,  page  689. 


48  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

that  surround  me.  I  thank  him  for  the  means 
he  has  given  me  of  doing  some  little  good. 
.  .  .  The  great  mystery  is  Jesus  Christ — the 
Gospel.  What  would  be  the  condition  of  any 
of  us  if  we  had  not  the  hope  of  immortal- 
ity? What  ground  is  there  to  rest  upon  but 
the  Gospel.'^  .  .  .  Thank  God,  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  brought  life  and  immortality  to 
light."  ^ 

William  E.  Dodge,  merchant,  was  born  at 
Hartford,  Conn.,  September  4,  1805,  and  died 
February  9,  1883. 

He  was  an  extensive  dealer  in  metals,  en- 
gaged in  lumbering  and  coal-mining,  and  owned 
many  thousands  of  acres  of  land  in  various 
States.  He  v/as  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in 
the  building  of  the  New  York  &  Erie  Rail- 
road, the  Delaware,  Lackawanna,  &  Western 
Railroad,  the  Houston  &  Texas  Central  Rail- 
road, and  several  others.  He  was  president  of 
several  insurance  companies,  and  a  director  in 
all  the  leading  telegraph  companies. 

With  all  his  multiplied  business  interests 
he  was  actively  interested  in  all  forms  of  reli- 
gious philanthropy,  and  gave  away  millions  of 
dollars  to   various  benevolences.     His    whole 

'  Life  of  Daniel  Webster.  By  George  T.  Curtis.  New 
York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1870.     Vol.  ii,  page  697. 


FROM    SOCIAL   AND    BUSINESS    WORLD.     49 

life  was  saturated  with  the  spirit  and  practice 
of  a  broad  and  generous  Christianity,  and  he 
sought  to  control  all  the  corporations  with 
which  he  was  connected  in  the  interest  of  Sab- 
bath observance. 

In  an  address  delivered  in  1872  he  said: 
*'  Unless  we  get  an  idea  of  what  it  is  to  be 
lost,  we  cannot  know  what  it  is  to  be  saved. 
Jesus  Christ  came  to  seek  and  to  save  the 
lost.  ...  A  saved  sinner  myself,  I  can  de- 
clare that  God  desires  not  the  death  of  the 
wicked.  He  says  to  all,  *  Turn  ye ;  why  will 
ye  die?' "^ 

Sir  George  Williams,  merchant  of  London, 
was  born  in  Somersetshire,  England,  in  1821. 

In  1844,  while  employed  in  a  large  mercan- 
tile establishment  in  London,  he,  with  other 
young  men,  founded  the  first  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  in  the  world,  and  from 
the  outset  gave  v/ith  large  liberality  in  further- 
ance of  the  work. 

His  entire  career  is  exceedingly  interesting, 
and  an  inspiration  to  young  men.  His  home 
in  London  and  his  place  of  business  at  St. 
Paul's  Churchyard  are  themselves  reminders 
of  old  times  and  English  worthies.     The  his- 

*  Memorial  of  William  E.  Dodge.  By  D.  Stuart  Dodge. 
New  York  :  Anson  D.  F.  Randolph  &  Co.     Pages  208,  209. 


50  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

tory  of  Mr.  Williams  was  almost  prophetically 
portrayed  by  Hogarth  in  his  celebrated  series 
of  paintings  of  the  "  Industrious  Apprentice." 
Hogarth  showed  successively  the  industrious 
apprentice  at  work  at  the  loom,  attending 
church  with  his  master's  daughter,  intrusted 
with  keys  and  counting  room,  married  to  the 
daughter,  becoming  one  of  the  firm,  grown 
rich  and  elected  sheriff,  and  finally  Lord  Mayor 
of  London. 

Mr.  Williams  did  not  work  at  the  loom,  but 
he  was  an  apprentice  in  a  cloth  house,  was 
intrusted  with  his  master's  business,  doubt- 
less attended  church  with  the  daughter,  for  he 
married  her,  became  one  of  the  firm  and  is 
still  doing  business  at  the  old  stand,  has  grown 
rich  and  influential,  and  is  a  millionaire  mer- 
chant, modest  and  charitable,  giving  away 
thousands  of  pounds  and  unlimited  time,  and 
serving  as  chairman  of  over  thirty  philan- 
thropic and  religious  societies.  In  connection 
with  the  Jubilee  Celebration  of  the  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  the  London  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  the  World's  Confer- 
ence of  Associations  held  in  London  in  1894, 
he  was  the  recipient  of  many  honors  and 
testimonials  from  various  parts  of  the  world, 
was  presented  with  the  freedom  of  the  city  of 
London  by  the  corporation,  the  document  be- 


FROM    SOCIAL   AND    BUSINESS    WORLD.      5 1 

ing  inclosed  in  a  magnificent  casket.     He  was 
also  knighted  by  the  queen. 

At  an  international  convention  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations  in  Toronto,  On- 
tario, he  said  :  **  The  conversion  of  young  men 
to  God  and  their  advancement  in  spiritual 
knowledge  has  been,  and  I  trust  ever  will  con- 
tinue to  be,  the  great  work  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  Since  the  found- 
ing of  the  first  society  in  1844,  .  .  .  the  Bible 
class  has  been  largely  used  in  the  conversion 
of  young  men.  .  .  .  The  Bible  class  brings  us 
into  direct  conflict  with  the  work  of  the 
prince  of  darkness.  The  Holy  Ghost  says 
(2  Cor.  4.  4),  '  The  god  of  this  world  hath 
blinded  the  minds  of  them  which  believe 
not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of 
Christ  .  .  .  should  shine  unto  them.'  .  .  .  When 
the  veil  has  been  taken  away  from  the 
mind  and  heart,  and  the  truth  of  God  has 
been  seen  and  felt,  then  the  tears  of  repent- 
ance have  flowed  and  the  cry  for  mercy  has 
been  heard.  .  .  .  No  position  can  be  more 
desired  by  young  men  than  sitting  at  the 
feet  of  Christ  in  one  of  the  Bible  classes  of  an 
association  and  learning  of  him."  * 

*  Report  of  the  International  Convention  of  the  Young 
Men^s  Christian  Associations,  held  at  Toronto.  Published  by 
the  Executive  Committee  at  New  York.    1876.     Pages  82-84. 


52  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  explorer,  was  born  at 
Hayes,  England,  in  1552,  and  died  October 
29,  1618. 

He  was  a  soldier,  sailor,  historian,  poet, 
courtier,  and  explorer.  He  intermeddled  with 
adventures  of  many  kinds,  and  the  age  in 
which  he  lived  was  full  of  him.  He  was  the 
author  of  numerous  works,  and  his  writings 
show  that  he  was  familiar  with  all  previous 
writers  of  note. 

In  his  History  of  the  World  he  quotes 
extensively  from  both  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  In  the  preface  to  this  work  he 
says :  **  I  do  also  account  it  not  the  meanest, 
but  an  impiety  monstrous,  to  confound  God 
and  nature,  be  it  but  in  terms.  ...  It  is 
God  that  commandeth  all;  it  is  nature  that  is 
obedient  to  all.  It  is  God  that  doth  good 
unto  all,  knowing  and  loving  the  good  he 
doth  ;  it  is  nature  that  secondarily  doth  also 
good,  but  it  neither  knoweth  nor  loveth  the 
good  it  doth.  It  is  God  that  hath  all  things 
in  himself;  nature,  nothing  in  itself."  ' 

In  another  place  he  uses  this  language : 
"There  are  none  in  the  world  so  wickedly 
inclined  but  that  a  religious  instruction  and 
bringing  up    may  fashion   anew   and    reform 

1  Works  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Kt.     Oxford  University 
Press.     1829.     Vol.  ii,  page  57  of  Preface. 


FROM    SOCIAL   AND    BUSINESS    WORLD.      53 

them ;  nor  any  so  well  disposed  whom  (the 
reins  being  let  loose)  the  continual  fellowship 
and  familiarity,  and  the  example  of  dissolute 
men  may  not  corrupt  and  deform.'" 

In  his  Treatise  on  the  Soul  he  says : 
"  When  Christ  saith,  *  Father,  into  thy  hands 
I  commend  my  spirit,*  to  the  thief,  *  This  day 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise;'  when 
Stephen  crieth, '  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit,* 
and  Paul,  *  I  desire  to  be  dissolved  and  to  be 
with  Christ,'  do  they  not  show  us  that  the  soul 
is  immortal  ?  And  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
of  Christ  maketh  much  for  the  immortality  of 
our  souls,  for  he  hath  promised  that  where  he 
is  there  his  servants  shall  be  also.'"" 

Henry  M.  Stanley,  explorer,  was  born  near 
Denbigh,  Wales,  in  1840. 

As  a  fearless,  courageous,  and  persistent  ex- 
plorer of  unknown  and  dangerous  regions  he  has 
had  no  superior.  His  first  great  feat  was  the  dis- 
covery of  the  whereabouts  of  the  intrepid  mis- 
sionary, David  Livingstone.  He  subsequently 
made  many  important  geographical  discoveries, 
became  governor  of  the  Congo  Free  State, 
received    the  degree  of  D.C.L.  from   Oxford 

^  Works  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Kt,     Oxford  University 
Press,     1829.  Vol.  ii,  page  31. 
"^  Ibid.     Vol.  viii,  page  590. 


54  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

University,  and  innumerable  other  honors  from 
sovereigns  and  learned  societies. 

In  a  prefatory  letter  to  Sir  William  Mac- 
Kinnon, contained  in  his  work  on  Darkest 
Africa^  he  says :  "  You,  who  throughout  your 
long  and  varied  life  have  steadfastly  believed 
in  the  Christian's  God,  and  before  men  have 
professed  your  devout  thankfulness  for  many 
mercies  vouchsafed  you,  will  better  under- 
stand than  many  others  the  feelings  which 
animate  me  when  I  find  myself  back  again 
in  civilization  unimpaired  in  life  or  health, 
after  passing  through  so  many  dark  and  dis- 
tressful periods. 

**  Constrained  at  the  darkest  hour  to  hum- 
bly confess  that  without  God's  help  I  was 
helpless,  I  vowed  a  vow  in  the  forest  solitudes 
that  I  would  confess  his  aid  before  men.  A 
silence  as  of  death  was  round  about  me ;  it 
was  midnight ;  I  was  weakened  by  illness, 
prostrated  with  fatigue,  and  worn  with  anxiety 
for  my  white  and  black  companions,  whose 
fate  was  a  mystery. 

*'  In  this  physical  and  mental  distress  I  be- 
sought God  to  give  me  back  my  people.  Nine 
hours  later  we  were  exulting  with  rapturous 
joy.  In  full  view  of  all  was  the  crimson  flag 
with  the  crescent,  and  beneath  its  waving  folds 
was  the  long-lost  rear  column. 


FROM   SOCIAL  AND    BUSINESS   WORLD.      55 

"As  I  mentally  review  the  many  grim  epi- 
sodes, and  reflect  on  the  marvelously  narrow 
escapes  from  utter  destruction  to  which  we 
have  been  subjected  during  our  various  jour- 
neys to  and  fro  through  the  immense  and 
gloomy  extent  of  primeval  wood,  I  feel  utterly 
unable  to  attribute  our  salvation  to  any  other 
cause  than  to  a  gracious  Providence  who,  for 
some  purposes  of  his  own,  preserved  us.'** 

"  Before  turning  in  for  the  night  I  resumed 
my  reading  of  the  Bible  as  usual.  I  had  al- 
already  read  the  book  through,  from  beginning 
to  end,  once,  and  was  now  at  Deuteronomy 
for  the  second  reading,  and  I  came  unto  the 
verse  where  Moses  exhorts  Joshua  in  these 
fine  lines :  *  Be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage, 
fear  not,  nor  be  afraid  of  them  :  for  the  Lord 
thy  God,  he  it  is  that  doth  go  with  thee ; 
he  will  not  fail  thee,  nor  forsake  thee.'  "  ^ 

^In  Darkest  Africa,  By  H.  IkL  Stanley.  C.  Scribner's 
Sons.    1890.    Vol.  i,  pages  2  and  4.      ^  Ibid,    Vol  i,  page  311. 


Cbampions  from  tbc  artistic 


FROM    THE   ARTISTIC   WORLD.  59 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Champions  from  the  Artistic  World* 

PAINTERS,    ENGRAVERS,    POTTERS,    ARCHITECTS,    AND 
COMPOSERS. 

Michael  Angelo  Buonarotti,  sculptor,  archi- 
tect, and  painter,  was  born  in  Tuscany  March 
6,  1475,  and  died  at  Rome  February  18,  1564. 

In  each  of  the  three  arts  of  sculpture,  paint- 
ing, and  architecture,  he,  like  Shakespeare 
among  the  dramatists,  was  without  a  rival. 
Architect  of  St.  Peter's,  painter  of  '*  Conversion 
of  St.  Paul,"  sculptor  of"  Moses,"  his  fame  in- 
creases as  the  centuries  roll  on. 

In  writing  to  his  father  about  some  domestic 
affairs  he  said :  '*  We  must  have  patience,  and 
recommend  ourselves  to  God,  and  try  to  ac- 
knowledge our  errors,  for  which,  and  for  no  other 
reason,  this  adversity  has  fallen  upon  us,  and 
especially  for  pride  and  ingratitude.  .  .  .  Live 
on,  and  if  you  are  not  to  share  in  the  honors 
of  this  world  like  other  citizens,  it  is  enough  to 
have  bread  and  to  live  in  the  faith  of  Christ, 
even   as  I  do    here,    for   I  live   humbly,   nor 


6o  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

do  I  care  for  the  life  nor  the  honors  of  this 
world." ' 

Washington  AUston,  painter,  was  born  at 
Waccamaw,  South  Carolina,  November  5,  1779, 
and  died  July  9,  1843. 

He  was  one  of  the  few  American  painters 
who  achieved  great  fame  in  Europe.  In  Rome, 
because  of  the  similarity  of  some  of  his  color- 
ing to  that  of  Titian,  he  was  designated  "  the 
American  Titian."  In  England  every  door 
was  opened  to  him.  He  was  a  personal  friend 
of  Coleridge,  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  Benjamin 
West,  Irving,  and  Bryant. 

During  his  lifetime,  and  while  actively  en- 
gaged in  his  profession,  he  sold  single  pictures 
for  thousands  of  dollars,  and  had  an  order  for 
one  to  cost  $25,000.  Among  his  paintings  are 
**  Belshazzar's  Feast  "  and  the  ''  Dead  Man 
Revived  by  Touching  the  Bones  of  Elijah." 

He  was  a  most  winning  poet  as  well  as  an 
excellent  painter. 

In  one  of  his  letters,  in  speaking  of  certain 
trials,  he  says:  "I  may  grieve,  but  not  repine. 
It  becomes  not  a  man  of  sense,  nor  a  Chris- 
tian, to  repine  at  what  he  cannot  help.  I  have 
been    schooled   to    patience   and    submission ; 

'  Life  and  Works  of  Michael  Angeio  Buonarroti.  By  C.  H. 
Wilson.     London  :  John  Murray.     1876.     Page  185. 


FROM    THE   ARTISTIC    WORLD.  6 1 

I  endeavor  to  practice  them  as  Christian  du- 
ties." ' 

On  the  death  of  his  mother  he  wrote :  "  She 
is  now  with  her  Saviour.  There  is  no  conso- 
lation for  the  bereaved  Hke  this.  Nor,  indeed, 
can  there  be  any  other  to  a  believing  Christian. 
...  I  can  now  think  of  her  as  my  blessed 
mother  numbered  with  the  'just  made  perfect,* 
where  there  is  no  more  sorrow,  no  more  trouble. 
...  I  cannot  tell  you,  Cogdell,  how  I  loved 
my  mother  ;  she  herself  never  knew  all  the  love 
I  bore  her.  She  was  the  constant  object  of 
my  daily  prayers."  ^ 

Albert  Diirer,  engraver,  was  born  at  Nu- 
remburg  May  21,  1471,  and  died  April  6,  1528. 

He  was  not  only  an  engraver,  but  a  painter. 
He  held  the  position  of  court  painter  to  Charles 
V,  and  his  picture  of  the  ''  Four  Apostles,"  in 
Munich,  is  evidence  of  his  commanding  ability. 
Of  his  engraved  works  "The  Melancholia" 
and  ''Knight,  Death,  and  the  Devil"  are 
deemed  the  most  worthy.  He  was  a  personal 
friend  of  Luther  and  Melanchthon. 

In  a  letter  to  the  chaplain  of  the  Elector 
Frederick  he    says :   "  I   pray  your  reverence, 

^  Life  and  Letters  of  Washington  Allston.  By  Jared  B. 
Flagg.  New  York  :  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  1892.  Page 
222.  '  Ibid.     Pages  305,  306. 


62  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

therefore,  to  convey  my  very  humble  thanks 
to  his  electoral  grace,  and  to  commend  to  his 
grace  in  all  humility  the  worthy  Dr.  Martinus 
Luther,  for  the  sake  of  Christian  truth,  which 
is  of  greater  moment  to  us  than  all  the  riches 
and  power  of  this  world,  for  that  all  passeth 
away,  but  the  truth  abideth  forever.  And  if 
by  the  help  of  God  I  can  but  come  to  Dr. 
Martinus  Luther  I  will  paint  his  portrait  with 
all  diligence  and  engrave  it  on  copper,  for  a 
lasting  remembrance  of  this  Christian  man  who 
has  delivered  me  out  of  great  perplexities."* 

In  his  Netherlands  Journal  he  inscribes  this 
prayer  :  "  We  beseech  thee,  O  heavenly  Father^ 
to  bestow  thy  Holy  Spirit  once  more  upon  one 
[Wyclif]  who  will  gather  together  again  from 
all  parts  thy  holy  Christian  Church,  so  that  we 
may  again  live  together  in  Christian  unity,  and 
that  all  unbelievers,  such  as  Turks,  heathens, 
and  Indians,  may  turn  willingly  to  us  for  the 
sake  of  our  good  works  and  accept  the  Chris- 
tian faith."  ^ 

Thomas  Bewick,  naturalist  and  engraver, 
was  born  at  Eltingham,  England,  in  August, 
1753,  and  died  November  8,  1828. 

^  Life   and    Works   of  Albert   Biirer.     By  M.  Thausing. 
London  :  John  Murray.     1882.     Vol.  ii,  page  234. 
2  Ibid.     Page  238. 


FROM    THE   ARTISTIC   WORLD.  6^ 

He  is  Styled  the  father  of  modern  wood 
engraving.  LesHe's  Handbook  for  Young 
Painters  says  of  him  :  **  The  woodcuts  that 
illustrate  his  book  of  natural  history  may  be 
studied  with  advantage  by  the  most  ambitious 
votary  of  the  highest  classes  of  art." 

He  says  in  his  Memoirs:  ''  It  is  sufficient  for 
the  soul  of  man  in  this  life  to  reverence  and 
adore  the  omnipresent  and,  except  through 
his  works,  the  unknowable  God,  whose  wisdom 
and  power  and  goodness  have  no  bounds,  and 
who  has  been  pleased  to  enable  his  reasoning 
creatures  so  far  to  see  that  everything  is  made 
by  design,  and  nothing  by  chance."  ' 

Speaking  of  the  Bible,  he  says  :  "  It  may  be 
presumed  that  this  original  and  sacred  docu- 
ment will  continue  to  arrest  the  attention  of 
reasoning  beings  as  long  as  men  continue  to 
reason,  and  be  an  eternal  stimulant,  together 
with  other  stimulants  so  abundantly  presented 
by  the  wonders  of  the  universe,  to  lead  the 
soul  to  rest  its  hopes  on  the  source  from 
whence  it  derived  its  existence."' 

Bernard  Palissy,  potter,  was  born  near  Agen, 
France,  in  1510,  and  died  in  1589. 

^  Memoirs  of  Thomas  Bewick.    Written  by  Himself.     Lon- 
don :  Longmans,  Green  &  Roberts.     1862.     Page  260. 
^  Ibid.     Page  264. 


64  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

He  was  a  great  student  of  nature,  and,  in 
fact,  of  universal  truth,  and  wrote  upon  a 
variety  of  subjects,  including  natural  history, 
chemistry,  and  religion.  He  was  very  skillful 
in  drawing  and  painting,  but  his  reputation 
rests  chiefly  upon  his  discoveries  in  the  making 
of  ceramic  ware  and  in  the  elegant  productions 
of  his  own  hands.  His  success  in  discovering 
the  process  of  making  white  and  colored  en- 
amel wares  was  only  achieved  through  a  se- 
ries of  experiments  extending  through  several 
years,  amid  labors  and  poverty  and  discour- 
agements of  almost  every  kind.  When  his 
means  and  courage  to  prosecute  his  experi- 
ments further  would  sometimes  fail  he  would 
turn  his  attention  to  painting  or  surveying  in 
order  to  support  his  family  and  gather  a  small 
amount  for  further  experiments.  Over  and 
over  again,  just  as  he  felt  that  success  was  al- 
most within  his  grasp,  some  unforeseen  diffi- 
culty or  disaster  would  intervene  to  prevent 
his  success. 

Once  when  some  of  his  wares  were  in  the 
furnace  his  supply  of  wood  gave  out,  and  he 
burned  up  his  fence,  the  tables  in  his  house, 
and  then  tore  up  the  floor  and  used  it  also; 
persevering  in  spite  of  all  obstacles,  building 
his  own  furnaces,  grinding  his  own  colors,  and 
modeling  his  own  wares,  he  finally  triumphed. 


FROM    THE   ARTISTIC   WORLD.  65 

His  beautiful  designs  were  eagerly  purchased, 
and  to  this  day  are  unexcelled,  commanding 
fabulous  prices. 

In  1585,  because  of  his  religious  views,  he 
was  imprisoned  in  the  Bastile.  In  1588  Henry 
HI  visited  him  and  said  he  had  been  com- 
pelled, in  spite  of  himself,  to  put  him  in  prison, 
and  offered  to  pardon  him  if  he  would  become  a 
convert  to  the  Romish  faith.  Palissy  replied  : 
"  Sire,  you  have  said  several  times  that  you 
feel  pity  for  me.  But  it  is  I  who  pity  you, 
who  have  said,  ^  I  am  compelled.*  That  is  not 
speaking  like  a  king.  The  Guisards,  all  your 
people,  and  yourself  cannot  compel  a  potter 
to  bow  down  to  images  of  clay."  ' 

In  one  of  his  published  articles,  addressing 
his  brethren,  he  says:  "You  will  have  enemies 
and  be  persecuted  all  the  time  of  your  life,  if 
by  direct  paths  you  will  follow  and  sustain  the 
cause  of  God ;  for  such  are  the  promises  writ- 
ten originally  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament. 
Take  refuge,  then,  under  the  shelter  of  your 
protecting  Chief  and  Captain,  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  in  time  and  place  will  know  how 
properly  to  avenge  the  wrong  that  he  has  suf- 
fered and  your  sorrows." ' 

'  Life  of  Bernard  Palissy.     By  Henry  Morle>.     Boston  : 
Ticknor,  Reed  &  Fields.     1853.     Vol.  ii,  page  188. 
*  Ibid.     Page  259. 


66  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

Josiah  Wedgwood,  potter,  was  born  in  Burs- 
lem,  England,  July,  1730,  and  died  January  3, 

1795. 

The  Wedgwood  ware  is  perhaps  the  best 
known  of  any,  and  Wedgwood  is  usually  desig- 
nated as  the  father  of  English  pottery.  He 
possessed  rare  chemical  knowledge,  coupled 
with  great  business  ability,  and  made  many 
important  and  useful  discoveries,  producing 
the  highest  quality  of  ceramic  ware. 

Concerning  him  the  following  anecdote  is 
related  : 

An  English  peer  once  called  upon  him  and 
desired  to  see  his  great  pottery  factories.  With 
one  of  his  employees,  a  lad  about  fifteen  years 
of  age,  Mr.  Wedgwood  accompanied  the  noble- 
bleman  through  the  works. 

The  visitor  was  a  man  of  somewhat  reckless 
life,  and  rather  vain  of  his  religious  unbelief. 
Possessing  great  natural  wit,  he  was  quite  en- 
tertaining in  conversation,  and  after  a  while 
forgot  himself  in  expressions  of  **  polite  "  pro- 
fanity and  in  occasional  jests  with  sacred  names 
and  subjects. 

The  boy  at  first  was  shocked  by  the  noble- 
man's irreverence,  but  soon  became  fascinated 
by  his  flow  of  skeptical  drollery,  and  laughed 
heartily  at  the  witty  points  made. 

When  the  round  of  the  factories  had  been 


FROM    THE   ARTISTIC    WORLD.  67 

made  the  boy  was  dismissed,  and  Mr.  Wedg- 
wood selected  a  beautiful  vase  of  unique  pattern 
and  recalled  the  long  and  careful  process  of  its 
making,  as  they  had  just  seen  it  at  the  vats  and 
ovens.  The  visitor  was  charmed  with  its  ex- 
quisite shape,  its  rare  colorings,  its  pictured 
designs,  and  reached  out  his  hand  to  take  it ; 
Mr.  Wedgwood  let  it  fall  on  the  floor  and 
broke  it  to  atoms.  The  nobleman  uttered  an 
angry  oath.  "  I  wanted  that  for  my  collec- 
tion," he  said.  "  No  art  can  restore  what  you 
have  ruined  by  your  carelessness.*' 

"  My  lord,"  replied  Mr.  Wedgwood,  "  there 
are  other  ruined  things,  more  precious  than 
this,  which  can  never  be  restored.  You  can 
never  give  back  to  the  soul  of  that  boy  who 
has  just  left  us  the  reverent  feeling  and 
simple  faith  which  you  have  destroyed  by 
making  light  of  the  religion  which  has  been 
his  most  sacred  memory  and  inheritance.  For 
years  his  parents  have  endeavored  to  teach 
him  reverence  for  sacred  things,  and  so  to  in- 
fluence his  mind  that  his  life  and  conduct 
should  be  governed  by  religious  principles. 
You  have  undone  their  labor  in  less  than  half 
an  hour." 

The  nobleman,  though  greatly  astonished  at 
such  plainness  of  speech  from  a  ''mechanic," 
respected  a  brave  and  honest  man  ;  and  he  did 


68  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

not  go  away  without  expressing  his   regrets 
and  admitting  the  justice  of  the  reproof.  * 

Sir  Christopher  Wren,  architect,  was  born 
at  East  Knoyle,  England,  October  20,  1632, 
and  died  February  25,  1723. 

After  the  great  London  fire  of  1666  he  was 
selected  to  rebuild  fifty  churches  in  that  city, 
and  in  connection  therewith  he  designed  and 
erected  St.  Paul's  and  an  addition  to  West- 
minster Abbey. 

He  possessed  much  ability  in  several  de- 
partments of  science,  and  served  as  Professor 
of  Astronomy  at  Oxford.  He  was  buried  in 
the  crypt  at  St.  Paul's.  The  notable  inscrip- 
tion therein  reads,  **  Si  monumentum  requiris 
circumspice  " — "  If  you  require  a  monument, 
look  around  you." 

During  the  erection  of  St.  Paul's  he  caused 
the  following  notice  to  be  aflfixed  in  many 
parts  of  the  building: 

"  Whereas,  among  laborers,  etc.,  that  un- 
godly custom  of  swearing  is  too  frequently 
heard,  to  the  dishonor  of  God  and  contempt 
of  authority;  and  to  the  end,  therefore,  that 
such  impiety  may  be  utterly  banished  from 
these  works,  intended  for  the  service  of  God 
and  the  honor   of  religion,   it  is  ordered   that 

^  Youth's  Companion^  Boston,  Mass.,  July  5,  1894. 


FROM   THE   ARTISTIC    WORLD.  69 

customary  swearing  shall  be  a  sufficient  crime 
to  dismiss  any  laborer  that  comes  to  the  call, 
and  the  clerk  of  the  works,  upon  sufficient 
proof,  shall  dismiss  him  accordingly ;  and  if 
any  master  working  by  task  shall  not,  upon 
admonition,  reform  this  profanation  among 
his  apprentices,  servants,  and  laborers,  it  shall 
be  construed  his  fault,  and  he  shall  be  liable 
to  be  censured  by  the  commissioners."  ' 

Sir  George  Gilbert  Scott,  architect,  was  born 
at  Gawcott,  near  Buckingham,  England,  July 
13,  181 1,  and  died  March  2'j,  1878. 

In  furthering  the  revival  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture he  was,  perhaps,  the  most  important 
factor.  He  was  charged  with  the  care  and 
restoration  of  Westminster  Abbey,  was  in 
large  part  connected  with  the  restoration  of 
the  cathedrals  of  Ely,  Gloucester,  Durham, 
Chester,  Worcester,  Lichfield,  Ripon,  Exeter, 
and  many  others,  and  was  also  the  designer 
of  the  Albert  Memorial.  He  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey. 

In  speaking  of  his  devotions  he  says  : 
**  When  I  am  praying,  especially  for  my  sons, 
I  feel  I  cannot  do  enough.  I  feel  kneeling  to 
be  but   little,   and   I   prostrate   myself  on  the 

'  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  By  Lucy  Phillimore.  London : 
C.  Kegan  Paul  &  Co.    1883.     Page  285. 


70  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

floor."'  On  another  occasion  he  said:  "O. 
that  I  had  availed  myself  of  the  many  privi- 
leges of  those  my  early  days,  of  their  religious 
opportunities  and  of  their  means  of  intellectual 
improvement !  But  regrets  are  unavailing. 
Let  me  rather  thank  God  for  my  pious  and 
excellent  parents,  and  for  the  many  blessings 
of  my  life,  and  crave  his  forgiveness  for  my 
neghgence  and  shortcomings."* 

He  also  bears  this  testimony :  *'  Without 
pious  faith,  without  warm  love  and  a  heartfelt 
devotedness,  never  and  nowhere  was  anything 
truly  great  or  holy  accomplished."  ^ 

George  Frederick  Handel,  musical  composer, 
was  born  at  Halle,  Lower  Saxony,  February 
23,  1685,  and  died  April  14,  1759. 

Haydn  said  of  him,  "  He  is  the  father  of  us 
all."  Mozart  said,  *'  He  knows  better  than 
any  one  of  us  what  is  capable  of  producing 
a  great  effect."  Beethoven  said  Handel  was 
the  "monarch  of  the  musical  kingdom,  .  .  . 
the  greatest  composer  that  ever  lived." 

While  he  produced  many  wonderful  compo- 
sitions, his  ''Messiah"  is  the  most  notable.     In 

*  Persotial  and  Professional  Recollections  of  Sir  George 
Gilbert  Scott,  R.A.  Edited  by  his  son.  London  :  Sampson 
Low  &  Co.     1879.     Page  20  of  Introduction. 

2  Ibid.    Page  52.  ^  jud^     Pages  144,  145. 


FROM    THE   ARTISTIC    WORLD.  7 1 

speaking  of  the  feeling  and  impression  that  he 
had  when  composing  that  great  oratorio  he 
said,  "  I  did  think  I  saw  all  heaven  before  me, 
and  the  great  God  himself."  * 

After  the  death  of  his  mother  he  wrote:  *•  I 
cannot  yet  restrain  my  tears.  But  it  has 
pleased  the  Most  High  to  enable  me  to  submit 
with  Christian  calmness  to  his  holy  will."  ' 

For  several  years  before  his  death  he  at- 
tended the  parish  church  and  was  fervently 
devout.  His  death  on  Good  Friday  was  a 
fulfillment  of  his  desire.  "  He  had  most  se- 
riously and  devoutly  wished  for  several  days 
before  his  death  that  he  might  breathe  his 
last  on  Good  Friday,  *  in  hopes,'  he  said,  '  of 
meeting  his  good  God,  his  sweet  Lord  and 
Saviour,  on  the  day  of  his  resurrection.*  "  ^ 

Joseph  Haydn,  musical  composer,  was  born 
at  Rohrau,  Austria,  March  31,  1732,  and  died 
May  31,  1809. 

His  musical  creations  marked  an  era  in  the 
art  of  composition.  Even  Mozart  admitted 
that  it  was  from  Haydn  that  he  first  learned 
to  write  quartette  music.  Haydn  wrote  many 
famous  pieces,  but  his  oratorio  of  *'  The  Cre- 

'  Life  of  George  Frederick  Handel.     By  W.  S.   Rockstro. 
London:  Macmillan  &  Co.    1883.     Page  239. 
2  Ibid,     Page  162.  ^  Ibid.    Page  362. 


72  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

ation"    is    sufficient   of    itself    to    give   him 
enduring  fame. 

In  a  letter,  written  in  1792,  he  says:  **  In 
order  to  keep  my  word  and  support  poor 
Solomon  [his  former  manager]  I  must  be  the 
victim  and  work  incessantly.  I  really  feel  it. 
My  eyes  suffer  the  most,  my  mind  is  very 
weary,  and  it  is  only  the  help  of  God  that  will 
supply  what  is  wanting  in  my  power.  I  daily 
pray  to  him,  for  without  his  assistance  I  am 
but  a  poor  creature."  ' 

1  Life  of  Haydn.  By  Louis  Nolil.  Translated  by  G.  P. 
Upton.     Chicago:  A.  C.  MacClurg  &  Co.    i888.     Page  127. 


ebamplons  from  tbe  llterarij 
Morlb. 


SIR    WALTER    SCOTT. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY   WORLD.  75 


CHAPTER  V. 
Champions  ffom  the  Literary  Worlds 

PRINTERS,   EDITORS,    PHILOLOGISTS,   EGYPTOLOGISTS, 
LEXICOGRAPHERS,  HISTORIANS,  POETS,  NOVELISTS. 

John  Gutenberg,  inventor  and  printer,  was 
born  at  Mentz,  Germany,  in  1398,  and  died  be- 
tween 1465  and  1468. 

That  he  was  the  real  inventor  of  movable 
types  and  typography  as  now  practiced,  no 
candid  investigator  can  now  doubt.  His  first 
works  worthy  of  the  name  of  books  were  two 
editions  of  the  Bible,  but  he  was  so  modest 
that,  as  DeVinne  says,  **  No  one  except 
Shakespeare  did  so  much  and  said  so  little 
about  it." 

In  his  Catholicon,  published  in  1460, he  says: 
"  By  the  assistance  of  the  Most  High,  at  whose 
will  the  tongues  of  children  become  eloquent, 
and  who  often  reveals  to  babes  what  he  hides 
from  the  wise,  this  renowned  book,  the  Cathol- 
icon [a  Latin  grammar  and  dictionary],  was 
printed  and  perfected  in  the  year  of  incarna- 
tion, 1460,  in  the  beloved  city  of  Mentz  (which 
belongs  to  the  illustrious  German  nation,  and 


76  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

which  God  has  consented  to  prefer  and  to  raise 
with  such  an  exalted  light  of  the  mind  and  of 
free  grace  above  the  other  nations  of  the  earth), 
not  by  means  of  pen  or  pencil  or  stencil  plate, 
but  by  the  admirable  proportion,  harmony,  and 
connection  of  the  punches  and  matrices. 
Wherefore,  to  thee,  divine  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  triune  and  only  God,  let  praise 
and  honor  be  given."  ' 

William  Caxton,  printer,  was  born  at  Kent, 
England,  in  1412,  and  died  in  1491  or  1492. 

He  was  the  first  printer  in  England,  and  was 
not  only  a  printer,  but  a  writer  as  well.  His 
works  show  that  he  had  a  deep  sense  of  reli- 
gious things. 

In  his  Life  of  Charles  the  Greats  printed  in 
1485,  he  says  :  *'  I  have  specially  reduced  [trans- 
lated] it  after  the  simple  cunning  that  God  hath 
lent  to  me,  whereof  I  humbly  and  with  all  my 
heart  thank  him,  and  also  am  bounden  to  pray 
for  my  father's  and  mother's  souls,  that  in  my 
youth  sent  me  to  school,  by  which,  by  the 
sufferance  of  God,  I  get  my  living,  I  hope 
truly.  And  that  I  may  do  so  and  continue,  I 
beseech  him  to  grant  me  of  his  grace  ;  and  so 
to  labor  and  occupy  myself  virtuously  that  I 

*  The  Invention  of  Printins[.  By  Theodore  L.  DeVinne. 
New  York  :  Francis  Hart  &  Co.     1876.     Page  435. 


FROM   THE    LITERARY   WORLD.  77 

may  come  out  of  death  and  deadly  sin,  that 
after  this  life  I  may  come  to  his  bUss  in 
heaven.''  * 

Josiah  Gilbert  Holland,  essayist,  poet,  nov- 
elist, and  editor,  was  born  at  Belchertown, 
Mass.,  July  24,  1819,  and  died  October  12, 
1881. 

He  was  an  American  author  of  the  very 
purest  type,  and  if  his  abilities  were  measured 
by  the  circulation  of  his  writings  and  the  per- 
sonal esteem  which  he  evoked  he  would  have 
few  equals. 

As  editor  of  the  Sprhigficld  Republican,  and 
afterward  of  Scribner  s  and  the  Century  maga- 
zines, he  was  brilliantly  successful. 

As  a  poet  he  produced  successive  books  of 
poems  which  sold  by  tens  of  thousands  of 
copies  before  the  day  of  publication.  As  an 
author  of  timely  moral  and  social  homilies  he 
was  read  with  avidity  by  all  classes ;  as  a 
lecturer  he  was  one  of  the  most  popular  that 
ever  appeared  on  the  American  platform  ;  and 
as  a  novelist  and  author  of  Sevenoaks,  Nicli- 
olas  Minturn,  and  Arthur  Bonnicastle  he  was 
full  of  true,  healthful,  helpful,  and  useful 
thoughts. 

'  Life  of  William  Caxton.  By  Charles  Knight.  London ; 
W.  Clowes  &  Sons.     1877.     Page  13. 


yS  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

In  his  Every-Day  Topics  he  says:  "In  the 
current  discussions  of  the  relations  of  Chris- 
tianity to  science  there  is  one  fact  that  seems 
to  have  dropped  out  of  notice,  yet  it  is  full  of 
meaning,  and  deserves,  for  Christianity's  sake, 
to  be  raised  and  kept  before  the  public.  Who, 
or  what,  has  raised  science  to  its  present  com- 
manding position?  What  influence  is  it  that 
has  trained  the  investigator,  educated  the 
people,  and  made  it  possible  for  the  scientific 
man  to  exist,  and  the  people  to  comprehend 
him  ?  Who  built  Harvard  College  ?  What  mo- 
tives form  the  very  foundation  stones  of  Yale  ? 
To  whom  and  to  what  are  the  great  institutions 
of  learning  scattered  all  over  this  country  in- 
debted for  their  existence?  There  is  hardly 
one  of  these  that  did  not  have  its  birth  in,  and 
has  not  had  its  growth  from,  Christianity.  The 
founders  of  all  these  institutions,  more  partic- 
ularly those  of  greatest  influence  and  largest 
facilities,  were  Christian  men,  who  worked  sim- 
ply in  the  interest  of  their  Master/'  * 

"  It  is  most  interesting  and  instructive,  we 
repeat,  to  observe  how  all  the  patent  methods 
that  have  been  adopted  outside  of  or  in  oppo- 
sition to  Christianity  for  the  reformation  of 
society  have,   one   after  another,  gone  to  the 

'  Every-Day  Topics.  By  J.  G.  Holland.  New  York : 
Scribner,  Armstrong  &  Co.     1876.     Pages  141,  142. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY    WORLD.  79 

wall  or  gone  to  the  dogs.  A  dream  and  a 
few  futile  or  disastrous  experiments  are  all 
that  ever  comes  of  them."  ^ 

Wihiam  Cullen  Bryant,  poet  and  editor,  was 
born  at  Cummington,  Mass.,  November  3, 1794, 
and  died  June  12,  1878. 

He  was  chief  editor  of  the  New  York  Even- 
ing Post  for  almost  fifty  years,  and  made  the 
paper  notable  for  literary  character  and  ele- 
vated tone.  His  ^*  Thanatopsis  "  is  recognized 
as  one  of  the  great  poems  of  the  age.  He 
was  also  the  author  of  many  other  highly 
prized  poems. 

In  a  letter  to  Miss  C.  M.  Sedg^vick,  in 
speaking  of  the  death  of  her  mother,  he  says  : 
"  I  was  very  much  struck  not  long  since  with 
the  answer  of  one  to  whom  the  prospect  of  life 
seemed  uncertain,  and  whom  I  was  endeavor- 
ing to  console  with  the  hope  of  a  happier 
state  of  existence.  '  It  will  be  no  heaven  to 
me,'  she  said,  'if  my  friends  are  not  there.'  .  .  . 
The  delights  of  the  next  life,  I  am  sure,  are 
not  selfish  ;  they  must  be  social.  *  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you,'  said  our  Saviour  to 
his  disciples.  The  good  who  precede  us  in 
death  have  all  this  office ;  it  is  their  presence 

»  Every-Day  Topics.  By  J.  G.  Holland.  New  York  : 
Scribner,  Armstrong  &  Co.     1876.     Page  154. 


80  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

which  will  make  a   great  part  of  the   heaven 
for  which  we  hope."  ' 

In  a  letter  to  Bishop  J.  H.  Vincent  he 
says  :  "  There  is  an  attempt  to  make  science, 
or  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the  natural 
universe,  an  ally  of  the  school  which  denies 
a  separate  spiritual  existence  and  a  future  life  ; 
in  short,  to  borrow  of  science  weapons  to  be 
used  against  Christianity.  The  friends  of 
religion,  therefore,  confident  that  one  truth 
never  contradicts  another,  are  doing  wisely 
when  they  seek  to  accustom  the  people  at 
large  to  think  and  weigh  evidence,  as  well  as 
to  believe.  ...  It  is  true  that  there  is  no 
branch  of  human  knowledge  so  important  as 
that  which  teaches  the  duties  we  owe  to  God 
and  to  each  other."  ' 

Friedrich  Max  Miiller,  philologist,  was  born 
at  Dessau,  Germany,  December  6,  1823. 

He  is  probably  best  known  by  his  works 
entitled  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop  and 
Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language.  His 
most  elaborate  and  learned  work,  however,  is 
his  translation  of  the  Rig  Veda  Samhita,  a 
collection  of  Sanskrit  hymns  that   introduces 

^  Biography  of  William  Cullen  Bryant.    By  Parke  Godwin. 
New  York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.    1883.     Vol,  ii,  page  91. 
2  Ibid.     Page  395. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY    WORLD.  8 1 

US  to  the  very  earliest  form  of  words  and 
thoughts. 

In  a  lecture  on  missions  he  says:  *'As  to 
our  own  religion,  its  very  soul  is  missionary, 
progressive,  world-embracing;  it  would  cease 
to  exist  if  it  ceased  to  be  missionary — if  it 
disregarded  the  parting  words  of  its  Founder: 
*  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  "  ' 

**  As  long  as  there  are  doubt  and  darkness 
and  anxiety  in  the  soul  of  an  inquirer,  reti- 
cence may  be  his  natural  attitude.  But  when 
once  doubt  has  yielded  to  certainty,  darkness 
to  light,  anxiety  to  joy,  the  rays  of  truth  will 
burst  forth  ;  and  to  close  our  hand  or  to  shut 
our  lips  would  be  as  impossible  as  for  the 
petals  of  a  flower  to  shut  themselves  against 
the  summons  of  the  sun  of  spring."* 

"A  missionary  must  know  no  fear;  his 
heart  must  overflow  with  love — love  of  man, 
love  of  truth,  love  of  God ;  and  in  this,  the 
highest  and  truest  sense  of  the  word,  every 
Christian  is,  or  ought  to  be,  a  missionary."  " 

^  Selected  Essays  on  Language^  Mythology,  and  Religion.  By 
F.  Max  Muller.  London:  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.  1881. 
Vol.  ii,  page  53. 

^  Ibid.     Page  55. 

2  Ibid.     Page  5  7. 


82  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

Archibald  Henry  Sayce,  archaeologist  and 
philologist,  was  born  at  Shirehampton,  Eng- 
land, in  1846. 

He  has  been  Professor  of  Comparative  Philol- 
ogy at  Oxford,  and  is  an  author  of  recognized 
authority  on  several  branches  of  archaeology. 

In  the  Preface  to  one  of  his  works  he  says : 
"  The  later  history  of  the  Old  Testament  no 
longer  stands  alone.  Once  it  was  the  sole 
witness  for  the  truth  of  the  narrative  it 
contains.  .  .  .  All  is  changed  now.  The 
earth  has  yielded  up  its  secrets,  the  current 
civilization  of  Assyria  has  stepped  forth  again 
into  the  light  of  day  and  has  furnished  us 
with  records,  the  authority  of  which  none  can 
deny.  ...  Just  at  the  moment  when  skep- 
tical criticism  seemed  to  have  achieved  its 
worst,  and  to  have  resolved  the  narratives  of 
the  Old  Testament  into  myths  or  fables,  God's 
providence  was  raising  up  from  the  grave  of 
centuries  a  new  and  unimpeachable  witness 
for  their  truth."  * 

In  his  work  on  Higher  Criticism,  his 
testimony  is  that  "  the  assumptions  and 
preconceptions  with  which  the  *  higher  criti- 
cism '  started,  and  upon  which  so  many  of  its 

^Assyria;  its  Princes^  Priests,  arid  People.  By  A.  H. 
Sayce,  M.A.  London  :  The  Religious  Tract  Society.  1885. 
Pages  10  and  ii  of  Preface. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY    WORLD.  83 

conclusions  are  built,  have  been  swept  away 
either  wholly  or  in  part,  and  in  place  of  the 
skepticism  it  engendered  there  is  now  a  danger 
lest  the  oriental  archaeologist  should  adopt  too 
excessive  a  credulity.  The  revelations  of  the 
past  w^hich  have  been  made  to  him  in  late 
years  have  inclined  him  to  believe  that  there  is 
nothing  impossible  in  history,  any  more  than 
there  is  in  science,  and  that  he  is  called  upon 
to  believe,  rather  than  to  doubt."  ' 

Richard  Lepsius,  Egyptologist,  was  born  at 
Naumburg,  Germany,  December  23,  1810,  and 
died  July  10,  1884. 

He  was  one  of  the  greatest  specialists  on 
Egypt.  He  unraveled  the  chronology  and 
mythology  of  that  ancient  land,  unfolded  its 
system  of  weights  and  measures,  and  studied 
out  and  classified  almost  all  th^  ancient  and 
modern  languages  of  northeastern  Africa. 

His  writings  are  numerous,  embracing  scores 
of  volumes,  and  they  give  many  evidences  of 
his  belief  in  the  Bible.  In  the  dedication  of  his 
work  on  TJie  Chronology  of  the  Egyptians  he 
says:  "The  Christianity  which  derives  its 
origin  and  sustenance  from  the  Bible  is  essen- 

*  The  Higher  Criticism  and  the  Verdict  of  the  Monuments, 
By  A.  H.  Sayce.  London :  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge.     1894.    Page  23. 


84  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

tially  and  intrinsically  wholly  independent  of  all 
learned  confirmation.  .  .  .  That  truth  which  is 
discerned  by  the  sound  progress  of  any  science 
whatsoever  cannot  be  hostile  to  Christian  truth, 
but  must  promote  it;  for  all  truths,  from  the 
very  beginning,  have  formed  a  compact  league 
against  everything  that  is  false  and  erroneous. 
...  It  seems  to  me,  also,  that  the  practical 
religious  meaning  which  the  Old  Testament 
possesses  for  every  Christian  reader  is  very  in- 
dependent of  the  dates  of  the  periods,  the  exact 
knowledge  of  which  could  only  have  been 
known  by  means  of  a  purposeless  inspiration  to 
the  authors  and  elaborators  of  those  writings, 
many  of  whom  lived  several  centuries  later."  * 

Georg  Ebers,  Egyptologist,  was  born  in  Ber- 
lin March  I,  1837. 

He  is  most  widely  known  through  transla- 
tions of  his  historic  novels,  Uarda^  Joshua^  and 
An  Egyptian  Prijicess.  He  is  also  the  author 
of  Through  Goshen  to  Sinaiy  and  Egypt  and  the 
Books  of  Moses.  He  has  served  as  Professor  of 
Egyptology  at  Jena  and  Leipsic. 

In  his  Story  of  My  Life  he  says :  "  My 
mother  did  not  fail  to  endeavor  to  inspire  us 

*  Letters  from  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  etc,  vviih  extracts  from  his 
Chronology  of  the  Egyptians.  By  Dr.  Richard  Lepsius.  Lon- 
don :  Henry  G.  Bohn,     1853.     Pages  361,  362. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY    WORLD.  8$ 

with  love  for  the  Christ-child  and  the  Saviour 
and  to  draw  us  near  to  him.  She  saw  in  him, 
above  all  else,  the  embodiment  of  love,  and 
loved  him  because  her  loving  heart  understood 
his. 

''  In  after  years  my  own  investigation  and 
thought  brought  me  to  the  same  conviction 
which  she  had  reached  through  the  relation  of 
her  feminine  nature  to  the  person  and  teach- 
ings  of  her  Saviour.  I  perceived  that  the 
world  as  Jesus  Christ  found  it  owes  him 
nothing  grander,  more  beautiful,  loftier,  or 
more  pregnant  with  importance  than  that  he 
widened  the  circle  of  love  which  embraced  only 
the  individual,  the  family,  the  city,  or,  at  the 
utmost,  the  country  of  which  a  person  was  a 
citizen,  till  it  included  all  mankind.  And  this 
human  love,  of  which  my  mother's  life  gave  us 
practical  proof,  is  the  banner  under  which  all 
the  genuine  progress  of  mankind,  in  later  years, 
has  been  made. 

''Nineteen  centuries  have  passed  since  the 
one  that  gave  us  Him  who  died  on  the  cross  ; 
and  how  far  we  are  still  from  a  perfect  realiza- 
tion of  this  noblest  of  all  the  emotions  of  the 
heart  and  spirit !  "  * 

>  The  Story  of  My  Life.  By  Georg  Ebers.  Translated  by 
Mary  J.  Safford.  New  York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  1893. 
Pages  29,  30. 


86  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

He  said  of  one  of  his  teachers :  **  He  showed 
us  the  other  religions  mainly  to  place  Chris- 
tianity and  its  renewing  and  redeeming  power 
in  a  brighter  light.  .  .  .  Whether  he  succeeded 
in  bringing  us  into  complete  *  unity'  with  the 
personality  of  Christ,  to  which  he  stood  in  such 
close  relations,  is  doubtful,  but  he  certainly 
taught  us  to  understand  and  love  him  ;  and 
this  love,  though  I  have  also  listened  to  the 
views  of  those  who  attribute  the  creation  and 
life  of  the  world  to  mechanical  causes  and 
believe  the  Deity  to  be  a  product  of  the  human 
intellect,  has  never  grown  cold  up  to  the 
present  day." ' 

Samuel  Johnson,  essayist  and  lexicographer, 
was  born  at  Lichfield,  England,  September 
1 8,  1709,  and  died  December  13,  1784. 

His  erudition  made  him  not  only  one  of  the 
greatest  men  of  his  time,  but  of  all  time,  and 
his  moral  essays  and  stories,  contained  in  the 
Rambler  and  elsewhere,  are  among  the  world's 
best  and  greatest  classics.  His  dictionary 
comes  near  being  the  '*  source  of  English  un- 
defiled,"  and  it  is  worthy  of  particular  notice 
that  in  it  he  quoted  no  author  whose  writings 

'  The  Story  of  My  Life.  By  Georg  Ebers.  Translated 
by  Mary  J.  Safford.  New  York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  1893. 
Pages  240,  241. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY    WORLD.  87 

had  a  tendency  to  hurt  religion  or  morality. 
In  his  day,  and,  in  fact,  ever  since,  even  the 
words  that  unbelievers  use  have  had  to  be 
obtained  from  vocabularies  collated  by  Chris- 
tian men. 

The  following  passage  is  from  his  diary: 
"September  7,  1736.  I  have  this  day  entered 
upon  my  twenty-eighth  year;  mayestthou,  O 
God,  enable  me,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  to 
spend  this  in  such  a  manner  that  I  may  re- 
ceive  comfort  from  it  at  the  hour  of  death  and 
in  the  day  of  judgment.     Amen."  * 

Soon  after  1763,  when  the  English  wrested 
Canada  from  the  French,  while  conversing  with 
a  friend  on  the  truth  of  Christianity,  Dr.  John- 
son said :  **  It  is  always  easy  to  be  on  the 
negative  side.  .  .  .  Let  us  try  this  a  little 
further.  I  deny  that  Canada  is  taken,  and  I  can 
support  my  denial  by  pretty  good  arguments. 

'*  The  French  are  a  much  more  numerous 
people  than  we,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  they 
would  allow  us  to  take  it. 

" '  But  the  ministry  have  assured  us,  in  all 
the  formality  of  the  Gazette,  that  it  is  taken.' 

"Very  true,  but  the  ministry  have  put  us 
to  an  enormous  expense  by  the  war  in  America, 

^  Life  of  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.  By  James  Boswell. 
London  :  Printed  by  Henry  Baldwin.  1840.  Vol.  i,  page 
24. 


88  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

and  it  is  to  their  interest  to  persuade  us  that 
we  have  got  something  for  our  money. 

*'  *  But  the  fact  is  confirmed  by  thousands  of 
men  who  were  at  the  taking  of  it.' 

'*  Ay,  but  these  men  have  still  more  interest 
in  deceiving  us.  They  don't  want  that  you 
should  think  the  French  have  beat  them,  but 
that  they  have  beat  the  French. 

•'  Now,  suppose  you  should  go  over  and  find 
that  it  really  is  taken,  that  would  only  satisfy 
yourself;  for  when  you  came  home  we  would 
not  believe  you.  We  would  say  you  have  been 
bribed. 

"  Yet,  sir,  notwithstanding  all  these  plausible 
objections,  we  have  no  doubt  that  Canada  is 
really  ours,  such  is  the  weight  of  common  tes- 
timony. How  much  stronger  are  the  evidences 
of  the  Christian  religion  !  "  * 

Noah  Webster,  lexicographer,  was  born  in 
West  Hartford,  Conn.,  October  i6,  1758,  and 
died  May  28,  1843. 

It  was  his  personal  efforts  in  various  States 
that  secured  the  first  copyright  law  in  the 
United  States,  which  since  that  time  has  pro- 
tected the  rights  of  authors,  and  for  this  rea- 
son alone  he  deserves   the  warmest    remem- 

^  Life  of  Samuel  Johnson,   LL.D.     By  James  Boswell. 
London  :  Printed  by  Henry  Baldwin.    1840.    Vol.  i,  page  194. 


FROM   THE    LITERARY   WORLD.  89 

brance  of  all  who  are  engaged  in  literary  pur- 
suits. If  widespread  notoriety  and  use  of  one's 
publications  afford  any  compensation  to  an 
author,  then  no  other  author  was  ever  so 
largely  compensated  as  he,  for  in  every  hamlet 
and  cross-roads  throughout  the  entire  United 
States  Webster's  spelling  book  has  been  known 
and  used  for  more  than  a  hundred  years. 
Over  fifty  million  copies  have  been  issued,  and 
there  still  seems  no  limit  to  the  demand. 

The  series  of  dictionaries  which  he  originated 
has  had  a  circulation  greater  than  all  others 
combined.  In  the  Preface  to  his  earliest  Dic- 
tionary he  said  :  *'  The  United  States  com- 
menced their  existence  under  circumstances 
wholly  novel  and  unexampled  in  the  history  of 
nations.  They  commenced  with  civilization, 
with  learning,  with  science,  with  constitutions 
of  free  government,  and  with  that  best  gift  of 
God  to  man,  the  Christian  religion."  * 

The  closing  sentences  of  the  same  Preface 
are  as  follows : 

**  To  that  great  and  benevolent  Being  who, 
during  the  preparation  of  this  work,  has 
sustained  a  feeble  constitution  amidst  obsta- 
cles and  toils,  disappointments,  infirmities,  and 

^The  American  Dictionary,  By  Noah  Webster,  LL.D. 
New  York  ;  Published  by  S.  Converse.  1828.  Vol.  i, 
Preface. 


90  CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

depression,  who  has  twice  borne  me  and  my 
manuscripts  in  safety  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
given  me  strength  and  resolution  to  bring  the 
work  to  a  close,  I  would  present  the  tribute  of 
my  most  grateful  acknowledgments.  And  if 
the  talent  which  he  intrusted  to  my  care  has 
not  been  put  to  the  most  profitable  use  in  his 
service  I  hope  it  has  not  been  *  kept  laid  up 
in  a  napkin,'  and  that  any  misapplication  of  it 
may  be  graciously  forgiven." 

Thomas  Carlyle,  essayist  and  historian,  was 
born  at  Ecclefechan,  Scotland,  December  4, 
1795,  and  died  February  4,  1881. 

His  articles  in  various  quarterlies,  his  essays, 
his  Oliver  CromwelVs  Letters  and  Speeches^  and 
\\\?>  History  of  the  French  Revolution  have  given 
him  great  fame.  He  was  offered  a  pension  by 
the  English  government,  and  also  a  burial  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  both  of  which  were  de- 
clined. 

In  speaking  of  his  father,  who  was  a  stone 
mason,  he  says:  "All  his  strength  came  from 
God,  and  he  ever  sought  new  nourishment 
there.  God  be  thanked  for  it.  .  .  .  On  the 
whole,  ought  I  not  to  rejoice  that  God  was 
pleased  to  give  me  such  a  father — that  from 
earliest  years  I  had  the  example  of  a  real  man 
of  God's  own  making  continually  before  me? 


FROM    THE   LITERARY    WORLD.  9 1 

Let  me  learn  of  him.  Let  me  write  my  books 
as  he  built  his  houses,  and  walk  as  blamelessly 
through  this  shadow  world,  if  God  so  will,  to 
rejoin  him  at  last.     Amen."  ' 

In  writing  of  Voltaire  and  his  essays  he 
says:  ''Christianity,  the  'worship  of  sorrow,' 
has  been  recognized  as  divine  on  far  other 
grounds  than  *  essays  on  miracles,'  and  by 
considerations  infinitely  deeper  than  would 
avail  in  any  mere  trial  by  jury."  ' 

"  Religion  cannot  pass  away.  The  burning 
of  a  little  straw  may  hide  the  stars  of  the  sky, 
but  the  stars  are  there,  and  will  reappear."  ' 

Francois  Pierre  Guillaume  Guizot,  historian, 
was  born  at  Nimes,  France,  October  4,  1787, 
and  died  September  12,  1874. 

He  is  best  known  through  his  History  of 
Civilization  in  France,  but  was  a  voluminous 
writer  on  political  and  other  subjects.  After 
the  revolution  of  1830  he  became  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  afterward  Minister  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, and,  from  1840  to  1848,  Prime  Minister. 

In  1837,  by  authority  of  the  United  States, 
he  wrote  a  Life  of  President  Washington,  and 

1  Reminiscences.  By  Thomas  Carlyle.  Edited  by  J.  A. 
Froude.     New  York  :  C.  Scribner's  Sons.     1881.     Page  12. 

2  Critical  and  Miscellafteotis  Essays.  By  Thomas  Carlyle. 
Boston  :  Brown  &  Taggard.     i860.     Vol.  ii,  page  68. 

3  Ibid.     Page  78. 


92  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

was  subsequently  honored  by  having  his  por- 
trait placed  in  the  chamber  of  the  House  of 
Representatives. 

His  daughter  quotes  him  as  saying,  "  God 
and  the  religion  of  Christ  are  my  guides ; 
moral  law  is  the  law  to  which  I  would  refer 
every  question."*  ''The  older  I  grow  the 
more  I  feel  how  essential  is  religion  to  give 
man  the  energy  and  love  of  goodness  which 
he  needs.  I  am  convinced  that  without  reli- 
gion, without  the  continual  help  of  God,  man 
can  never  succeed  in  wiping  out  the  original 
stain  which  defiles  his  nature,  nor  attain  to  the 
holiness  and  purity  which  ought  to  be  in  him 
who  would  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in 
truth." ' 

In  his  Meditations  on  the  Essence  of  Chris- 
tianity he  says :  **  The  opponents  of  the  dogma 
of  the  incarnation  and  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ  disregard,  equally,  man  and  history — 
the  complex  elements  of  human  nature,  and 
the  meaning  of  the  great  facts  which  mark  the 
religious  life  of  the  human  race.  What  is  man 
himself  but  an  incomplete  and  imperfect  in- 
carnation of  God  ?  "  ^ 

^  Guizofs  Private  Life.  By  his  Daughter.  Boston  :  Estes 
&  Laui-iat.     1882.     Page  13.  ^  /^^-^^     p^ge  16. 

"^Meditations  on  the  Essence  of  Christianity.  By  M.  Guizot. 
London  :  John  Murray.     1864.     Page  72. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY   WORLD.  93 

John  Milton,  poet,  was  born  in  London,  Eng- 
land, December  9,  1608,  and  died  November 
8,  1674. 

He  was  one  of  the  foremost  champions  of 
the  Cromwellian  regime  and  Latin  secretary  of 
the  council  of  state  during  Cromwell's  protect- 
orate. 

A  prolific,  graceful,  and  learned  writer,  he 
w^as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  scholars  in  a 
remarkable  age.  His  "Paradise  Lost  "  almost 
immediately  brought  him  great  renown. 

In  his  Defensio  Secunda,  referring  to  the 
statement  of  some  of  his  enemies  that  his 
blindness  was  a  visitation  from  God  because 
of  his  opposition  to  the  royalists,  he  says  :  *'  I 
neither  feel  nor  believe  myself  an  object  of 
God's  anger,  but  actually  experience  and  ac- 
knowledge his  fatherly  mercy  and  kindness  to 
me  in  all  matters  of  greatest  moment,  espe- 
cially in  that  I  am  able,  through  his  conso- 
lation and  his  strengthening  of  my  spirit,  to 
acquiesce  in  his  divine  will,  thinking  oftener  of 
what  he  has  bestowed  upon  me  than  of  what 
he  has  withheld." ' 

At  another  time  he  writes  :  "  I  offer  it  to 
the  reason  of  any  man  whether  he  thinks  the 
knowledge  of  Christian   religion    harder  than 

^  Life  of  John  Milton.  By  David  Masson,  M.  A.  London  ; 
Macraillan  &  Co.     1877.     Vol.  iv,  page  595. 

7 


94  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

any  Other  art  or  science  to  attain.  .  .  .  See- 
ing, then,  that  Christian  religion  may  be  so 
easily  attained,  and  by  meanest  capacities,  it 
cannot  be  much  difficult  to  find  ways,  both 
how  the  poor,  yea,  all  men,  may  be  soon 
taught  what  is  to  be  known  of  Christianity."  * 
*'  It  is  written  that  the  coat  of  our  Saviour 
was  without  seam  ;  whence  some  would  infer 
that  there  should  be  no  division  in  the  Church 
of  Christ.  It  should  be  so,  indeed  ;  yet  seams 
in  the  same  cloth  neither  hurt  the  garment  nor 
misbecome  it."' 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  editorial  writer  and 
poet,  was  born  near  Haverhill,  Mass.,  Decem- 
ber 17,  1807,  and  died  September  7,  1892. 

His  pen  was  ever  ready  with  prose  or  verse 
in  defense  or  aid  of  whatever  was  good  and 
true.  His  appeals  in  behalf  of  the  slave  and 
for  suffering  humanity  everywhere  endeared 
him  to  all  lovers  of  mankind.  He  was  always 
fearless  in  defense  of  truth  and  right. 

In  many  respects  he  was  the  equal  of  any 
American  poet,  and  in  clear  enunciation  of 
moral  and  religious  truth  peihaps  more  pro- 
nounced than  any  other. 

'  Prose  Works  of  Jo  Jut  Milton.     By  George  Burnett.     Lon- 
don :  Printed  for  John  Miller.     1809.     Vol.  i,  page  168. 
2  Ibid.     Page  187. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY    WORLD.  95 

Writing  upon  certain  proposed  reforms  he 
says  :  "  Rejecting,  as  we  must,  whatever  is  in- 
consistent with,  or  hostile  to,  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  on  which  alone  rests  our  hope  for 
humanity,  it  becomes  us  to  look  kindly  upon 
all  attempts  to  apply  these  doctrines  to  the 
details  of  human  life,  to  the  social,  political, 
and  industrial  relations  of  the  race."  * 

"  We  know  not,  it  is  true,  the  conditions  of 
our  future  life  ;  we  know  not  what  it  is  to  pass 
from  this  state  of  being  to  another ;  but  be- 
fore us,  in  that  dark  passage,  has  gone  the 
Man  of  Nazareth,  and  the  light  of  his  foot- 
steps lingers  in  the  path.  Where  he,  our 
Brother  in  his  humanity,  our  Redeemer  in 
his  divine  nature,  has  gone,  let  us  not  fear  to 
follow.'" 

Of  the  "  inner  life  **  he  says  :  "  The  hour 
is  coming  when,  under  the  searching  eye  of 
philosophy  and  the  terrible  analysis  of  science, 
the  letter  and  the  outward  evidence  will  not 
altogether  avail  us ;  when  the  surest  depend- 
ence must  be  upon  the  light  of  Christ  within, 
disclosing  the  law  and  the  prophets  in  our 
own  souls,  and  confirming  the  truth  of  out- 
ward Scripture  by  inward  experience."  ^ 

*  lVhittier''s  Prose  I'Vorks.    Boston  and  New  York  :  Hough- 
ton, Mifflin  &  Co.     1889.     Vol.  iii,  page  208. 

^  Ibid.     Page  272.  ^  Ibid.     Page  313. 


96  CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  poet  and  novelist,  was  born 
in  Edinburgh  August  15,  1771,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 21,  1832. 

Admitted  to  the  bar  when  twenty  years  of 
age,  he  was  soon  engaged  in  literary  pursuits, 
and  his  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  "  brought 
him  early  into  prominence  as  a  poet.  Among 
numerous  other  poems,  published  later,  "  The 
Lady  of  the  Lake  "  is  awarded  the  chief  place. 

His  success  as  a  novelist  was  even  greater 
than  as  a  poet.  Waver  ley,  at  first  issued  anon- 
ymously, was  at  once  highly  popular  ;  and  nu- 
merous other  volumes,  composed  with  amaz- 
ing rapidity,  were  warmly  welcomed.  His 
Tales  of  a  Grandfather  will  probably  never  be 
rivaled  by  a  work  of  similar  character. 

His  wonderful  success  doubtless  caused  him 
to  become  a  little  careless  in  business  ventures 
and  personal  expenditures,  and  these,  and  the 
failure  of  persons  with  whom  he  was  associated, 
involved  him  in  debt  to  the  amount  of  nearly 
$700,000.  With  amazing  courage  he  set  about 
paying  off  these  obligations  in  full,  and  through 
the  writing  of  new  works  and  the  profits  from 
previously  written  volumes  he  succeeded — a 
pecuniary  success  through  literary  effort  abso- 
lutely unrivaled. 

He  was  remarkably  generous  and  helpful  as 
a  friend,  and  endeared  himself  to  all. 


FROM    THE    LITERARY    WORLD.  97 

In  his  private  journal  he  expresses  himself 
as  follows : 

"  There  are  few,  I  trust,  who  disbelieve  the 
existence  of  a  God  ;  nay,  I  doubt  if  at  all  times, 
and  in  all  moods,  any  single  individual  ever 
adopted  that  hideous  creed,  though  some  have 
professed  it."  * 

*'  Our  hope,  heavenly  and  earthly,  is  poorly 
anchored  if  the  cable  parts  upon  the  strain.  I 
believe  in  God,  who  can  change  evil  into  good  ; 
and  I  am  confident  that  what  befalls  us  is  al- 
ways ultimately  for  the  best."  ' 

"  I  would,  if  called  upon,  die  a  martyr  for  the 
Christian  religion,  so  completely  is  (in  my  poor 
opinion)  its  divine  origin  proved  by  its  bene- 
ficial effects  on  the  state  of  society.  Were 
we  but  to  name  the  abolition  of  slavery  and 
polygamy,  how  much  has,  in  these  two  words, 
been  granted  to  mankind  by  the  lessons  of  our 
Saviour." ' 

Charles  Dickens,  novelist,  was  born  near 
Portsmouth,  England,  February  7,  1812,  and 
died  June  9,  1870. 

The  characters  in  his  various  works  have 
been  more  widely  and  more  generally  quoted 

^Journal  of  Sir  Walter  Scott.  New  York:  Harper  & 
Brothers.     1890.     Vol.  i,  page  43. 

^Ibid.    Vol.  ii,  page  60.  ^Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  87. 


98  CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

than  those  of  any  other  novelist,  and  he  did 
humanity  a  large  service.  *'  Micavvber,"  "  Cap- 
tain Cuttle,"  and  "  Paul  Dombey  "  are  known 
wherever  the  English  language  has  a  reader. 

In  a  letter  to  his  son  he  said :  "  I  put  a  New 
Testament  among  your  books  for  the  very 
same  reasons  and  with  the  very  same  hopes 
that  made  me  write  an  easy  account  of  it  for 
you  when  you  were  a  little  child — because  it  is 
the  best  book  that  ever  was,  or  ever  will  be, 
known  in  the  world  ;  and  because  it  teaches 
you  the  best  lessons  by  which  any  human 
creature  who  tries  to  be  truthful  and  faithful 
to  duty  can  possibly  be  guided.  ,  .  . 

"  I  now  most  solemnly  impress  upon  you 
the  truth  and  beauty  of  th^  Christian  religion 
as  it  came  from  Christ  himself,  and  the  impos- 
sibility of  your  going  far  wrong  if  you  humbly 
but  heartily  respect  it.  .  .  .  Never  abandon 
the  wholesome  practice  of  saying  your  own 
private  prayers  night  and  morning.  I  have 
never  abandoned  it  myself,  and  I  know  the 
comfort  of  it."* 

^Letters  of  Charles  Dickens.  New  York:  Charles  Scribner 
&  Co.     1879.     Vol.  ii,  page  467. 


Cbamplona  from  tbe  Scientific 
Morl^ 


SAMUEL    F.    B.    MORSE. 


CHAMPIONS    FROM    SCIENTIFIC    WORLD.     10 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Champions  from  the  Scientific  World. 

ASTRONOMERS,  GEOLOGISTS,  PHYSICISTS,  CHEMISTS, 
BOTANISTS,  NATURALISTS,  ORNITHOLOGISTS, 
MATHEMATICIANS,     AND     INVENTORS. 

Galileo  Galilei,  astronomer,  was  born  at  Pisa, 
Italy,  February  1 8,  1564,  and  died  January  8, 
1642. 

He  made  the  first  practical  use  of  the  tele- 
scope, and  discovered  the  moons  of  Jupiter, 
a  ring  of  Saturn,  and  the  motion  of  the  sun 
on  its  axis.  He  also  discovered  the  basal  prin- 
ciples of  hydrostatics,  and  was  the  author  of 
various  works  refuting  theories  opposed  to  the 
Copernican  system. 

His  discoveries  awakened  a  fear  that  prevail- 
ing theological  dogmas  would  be  overthrown, 
and  envy,  jealousy,  and  ignorance  combined  to 
secure  his  condemnation  by  the  Inquisition. 
In  opposition  to  the  theory  that  the  earth 
moved  the  following  arguments  were  gravely 
printed : 

*' Animals  which  move  have  limbs  and 
muscles;  the  earth  has  no  limbs  or  muscles; 
therefore  it  cannot  move." 


I02         CHAMnONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

"The  planets,  the  sun,  the  fixed  stars  all 
belong  to  one  species,  namely,  that  of  stars ; 
they  therefore  ail  move  or  all  stand  still." 

It  was  also  said  that  it  was  "  a  grievous 
wrong  to  place  the  earth,  which  is  a  sink  of 
iniquity,  among  the  heavenly  bodies,  which  are 
pure  and  divine  things." 

In  defense  of  his  theory,  and  to  show 
that  it  was  not  opposed  to  the  teaching  of 
Scripture,  Galileo  quoted  Cardinal  Baronius  as 
saying  that  "the  Holy  Spirit  intended  to 
teach  us  how  to  go  to  heaven,  and  not  how 
the  heavens  go." 

Certain  authorities  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  determined  to  prevent  the  spread  of 
his  teaching,  and  finally,  in  his  latter  years  and 
when  broken  in  health,  he  was  compelled  to 
recant  his  belief  in  the  theories  he  advocated. 
The  recantation,  however,  extorted  through 
physical  weakness,  was  a  nullity,  for  he  still 
believed  as  before,  and  in  a  cautious  way  con- 
tinued to  evidence  his  belief. 

Of  his  truly  religious  spirit  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  In  a  letter  dated  February  21,  1635, 
written  subsequent  to  his  recantation,  he  says : 
"  Two  grounds  of  consolation  continually  come 
to  my  aid.  One  of  these  is  that  in  looking  all 
through  my  works  no  one  can  find  the  least 
shadow  of  anything  which  deviates  from  love 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.     IO3 

and  veneration  for  the  holy  Church  ;  the  other 
is  my  own  conscience,  which  can  only  be  fully 
known  to  myself  on  earth  and  to  God  in 
heaven.  He  knows  that,  in  the  cause  for 
which  I  suffer,  many  might  have  acted  and 
spoken  with  far  more  learning  and  knowledge, 
but  no  one,  not  even  among  the  holy  fathers, 
with  more  piety  and  greater  zeal  for  the  holy 
Church,    nor     altogether   with    purer     inten- 


Sir  John  F.  W.  Herschell,  astronomer,  was 
born  at  Slough,  near  Windsor,  England,  March 
7,  1792,  and  died  May  ii,  1871. 

He  was  president  of  the  Royal  Astronom- 
ical Society,  and  one  of  the  greatest  astrono- 
mers of  the  century.  He  compiled  catalogues 
of  the  stars,  wrote  various  treatises  on  astro- 
nomical subjects  and  on  sound  and  light,  and 
was  the  first  to  make  a  telescopic  survey  of  the 
entire  heavens. 

In  one  of  his  essays  he  expresses  himself 
thus:  ''Cause,  design,  and  nature  are,  as  we 
conceive  them,  abstractions  drawn  from  ob- 
served analogies,  of  which  our  own  personal  and 
conscious  experience  supplies  the  chief  mate- 
rials.    It  is  by  these  primordial  analogies  that 

^  Galileo  Galilei  and  the  Roman  Curia.  By  Karl  von  Geb- 
ler.     London:  C.  Kegan  Paul  &  Co.     1879.     Page  279. 


104         CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

we  are  led  upward  from  creation  to  Creator 
and  animated  by  the  prospects  of  our  own  im- 
mortal destiny."  ^ 

One  of  his  addresses  says  :  "  The  stars  are  the 
landmarks  of  the  universe,  and  amidst  the 
endless  and  complicated  fluctuations  of  our 
system  seem  placed  by  the  Creator  as  guides 
and  records,  not  merely  to  elevate  our  minds 
by  the  contemplation  of  what  is  vast,  but  to 
teach  us  to  direct  our  actions  by  reference  to 
what  is  immutable  in  his  works."  ' 

Sir  David  Brewster,  physicist,  was  born  at 
Jedburgh,  Scotland,  December  ii,  1781,  and 
died  February  10,  1868. 

He  discovered  the  polarization  of  light,  in- 
vented the  kaleidoscope,  and  mastered  some 
of  the  most  difficult  problems  of  optics. 

In  his  Life  of  Newton  he  says :  *'  The  antiq- 
uity and  authenticity  of  the  books  which  com- 
pose the  sacred  canon,  the  fulfillment  of  its 
prophecies,  the  miraculous  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  have  been  demonstrated  to  all  who  are 
capable  of  appreciating  the  force  of  historical 
evidence ;  and  in  the  poetical  and  prose  com- 
positions of  the  inspired  authors  we  discover 

'  Essays  and  Addresses.  By  Sir  J.  F.  W.  Herschel,  Bart., 
K.H.  London  :  Longman,  Brown,  Green  &  Co.  1857.  Page 
239.  '  Ibid.     Page  469. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.     105 

a  system  of  doctrine  and  a  code  of  morality, 
traced  in  characters  as  distinct  and  legible  as 
the  most  unerring  truths  of  the  material 
world."  ' 

In  his  work,  entitled  3fore  Worlds  than  One, 
he  says  :  "  When  our  Saviour  speaks  of  the 
sheepfold  of  which  he  is  the  door,  and  of  the 
sheep  who  follow  him  and  know  his  voice 
and  for  whom  he  was  to  lay  down  his  life, 
he  adds :  '  And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are 
not  of  this  fold  ;  them  also  I  must  bring,  and 
they  shall  hear  my  voice  ;  and  there  shall  be 
one  fold,  and  one  shepherd.'  "  ' 

''  When  our  Saviour  died  the  influence  of 
his  death  extended  backward  in  the  past, 
to  millions  who  never  heard  his  name,  and 
forward  in  the  future,  to  millions  who  will 
never  hear  it.  Though  it  radiated  but  from 
the  Holy  City,  it  reached  to  the  remotest 
lands,  and  affected  every  living  race  in  the  Old 
and  the  New  World.  Distance  in  time  and 
distance  in  place  did  not  diminish  its  healing 
virtue."  ^ 

'  Life  of  Nezuton.  By  Sir  David  Brewster.  Edinburgh  : 
Thomas  Constable  &  Co.     1855.     Vol.  ii,  page  358. 

*  More  Worlds  than  One.  By  Sir  David  Brewster,  M.A., 
D.C.L.     London  :  Chatto  &  Windus.     1874.     Page  16. 

3  Ibid.     Page  166. 


I06         CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

Joseph  Henry,  physicist,  was  born  at  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  December  17,  1797,  and  died  May  13, 
1878. 

Serving  in  various  honorable  offices,  he  is 
best  known  through  his  position  as  secretary 
and  chief  executive  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion at  Washington. 

This  institution  was  founded  by  James 
Smithson,  an  Englishman,  who,  in  1829,  left 
his  fortune  of  upward  of  $500,000  to  the 
United  States  to  found  an  establishment  "  for 
the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among 
men."  Professor  Henry,  in  December,  1846, 
became  the  first  secretary  of  the  corporation, 
projected  its  plan  of  operations,  and  under  his 
able  leadership  the  property  increased  more 
than  threefold.  The  institution  has  served  not 
only  the  nation,  but  the  world,  through  the 
discoveries  it  has  promoted.  Several  score  of 
valuable  works  bearing  its  imprint  have  been 
issued,  the  number  of  volumes  printed  reach- 
ing hundreds  of  thousands. 

Professor  Henry  was  the  author  of  nearly 
a  hundred  articles  and  monographs  on  scien- 
tific subjects.  He  invented  the  wire-wound  or 
electro-magnet,  and  demonstrated  the  ability 
of  this  magnet  to  transmit  its  power  several 
miles.  He  did  this  several  years  before  the 
introduction  of  the  telegraph.     He  also  made 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.     lO/ 

important  contributions  to  scientific  knowledge 
by  his  discoveries  in  meteorology,  acoustics, 
and  other  branches  of  physics,  but  refused  to 
patent  his  inventions,  giving  them  freely  to  the 
world,  and  was  thus  doubly  a  benefactor  to 
mankind. 

When  he  died  he  received  honors  such  as 
have  been  paid  to  but  few  persons  since  the 
United  States  was  established.  His  funeral 
services  were  arranged  for  by  a  joint  committee 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 
They  were  attended  by  the  President,  by  the 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  by  members  of 
both  houses  of  Congress,  by  the  heads  of  the 
Army  and  Navy  Departments,  by  the  Diplo- 
matic Corps  from  foreign  governments,  and  by 
all  the  dignitaries  of  the  nation  then  in  Wash- 
ington. Memorial  addresses  were  delivered  by 
Vice  President  Hannibal  Hamlin,  by  Professor 
Asa  Gray,  by  James  A.  Garfield,  by  General 
W.  T.  Sherman,  and  others.  Fifteen  thousand 
copies  of  a  memorial  volume  were  published 
by  Congress,  and  a  bronze  statue  was  ordered 
erected  in  the  Smithsonian  grounds  in  his  honor. 

In  a  long  and  familiar  letter  to  a  friend  he 
discusses  several  religious  questions  as  follows : 
"  After  all  our  speculations  and  an  attempt  to 
grapple  with  the  problem  of  the  universe,  the 
simplest  conception   which  explains  and  con- 


I08         CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

nects  the  phenomena  is  that  of  the  existence 
of  one  spiritual  Being — infinite  in  wisdom,  in 
power,  and  all  divine  perfections,  which  exists 
always  and  everywhere — which  has  created  us 
with  intellectual  faculties  sufficient  in  some 
degree  to  comprehend  its  operations,  as  they 
are  developed  in  nature,  by  what  is  called 
'  science.' "  ' 

At  another  time  he  said  :  *'  That  there  is  one 
God,  an  infinite  Spirit  ;  that  man  is  made  up 
of  body  and  soul ;  that  there  is  an  immortal 
life  for  man,  reaching  out  beyond  the  present 
world  ;  that  the  power  and  love  of  God  are 
brought  into  relation  with  the  weakness  and 
sinfulness  of  man  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — of 
these  great  truths  I  have  no  doubt.  I  regard 
the  system  which  teaches  them  as  rational 
beyond  any  of  the  opposing  theories  which 
have  come  under  my  view.  Upon  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  One  Avho,  for  God,  affiliates  him- 
self with  man— upon  him  I  rest  my  faith  and 
my  hope."' 

Sir  Charles  Lyell,  geologist,  was  born  at 
Kinnordy,  Scotland,  November  14,  1797,  and 
died  February  22,  1875. 

'  A  Memorial  of  Joseph  Henry.  Published  by  order  of 
Congfi-ess.  Washington  :  Government  Printing  Office.  1880. 
Page  24-  "^  Ibid.     Page  19. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.    IO9 

He  was  an  expert  geologist  and  the  author  of 
numerous  works.  His  Principles  of  Geology  was 
like  a  new  revelation  on  that  subject,  and  his 
abilities  procured  him  the  recognition  of  Queen 
Victoria,  by  whom  he  was  knighted. 

In  his  Principles  of  Geology  he  says :  **  In 
whatever  direction  Ave  pursue  our  researches, 
whether  in  time  or  space,  we  discover  every- 
where the  clear  proofs  of  a  creative  intelli- 
gence, and  of  his  foresight,  wisdom,  and 
power. 

*'As  geologists  we  learn  that  it  is  not  only 
the  present  condition  of  the  globe  which  has 
been  suited  to  the  accommodation  of  myriads 
of  living  creatures,  but  that  many  former 
states,  also,  have  been  adapted  to  the  organ- 
ization and  habits  of  prior  races  of  beings. 

"  The  disposition  of  the  seas,  continents, 
and  islands  and  the  climates  have  varied ;  the 
species,  likewise,  have  been  changed,  and  yet 
they  have  all  been  so  modeled  on  types 
analogous  to  those  of  existing  plants  and 
animals  as  to  indicate  throughout  a  perfect 
harmony  of  design  and  unity  of  purpose. 

"  To  assume  that  the  evidence  of  the  begin- 
ning or  end  of  so  vast  a  scheme  lies  within 
the  reach  of  our  philosophical  inquiries,  or 
even  of  our  speculations,  appears  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  a  just  estimate  of  the  relations 
8 


no         CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

which  subsist  between  the  finite  powers  of 
man  and  the  attributes  of  an  infinite  and 
eternal  Being."  ' 

Sir  John  William  Dawson,  geologist,  was 
born  in  Nova  Scotia  in  1820. 

He  studied  in  Edinburgh,  explored  Nova 
Scotia  with  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  and  subse- 
quently became  chancellor  of  McGill  College 
at  Montreal. 

He  discovered  the  eozoon  in  the  Laurentian 
limestone  of  Canada,  thus  revealing  the  oldest 
known  form  of  animal  life.  He  is  the  author 
of  numerous  works  on  geological  subjects,  was 
awarded  a  gold  medal  by  the  London  Geolog- 
ical Society,  and  was  knighted  by  the  queen. 

In  speaking  of  the  fact  that  there  is  still 
much  to  be  learned  in  geology,  he  says; 
"  Even  in  the  longest  journey  of  the  most 
adventurous  traveler  there  is  an  end  of  dis- 
covery ;  and  in  the  study  of  nature  cape  rises 
beyond  cape  and  mountain  beyond  mountain 
interminably.  The  finite  cannot  comprehend 
the  infinite ;  the  temporal,  the  eternal.  We 
need  not,  however,  on  that  account,  be  agnos- 
tics, for  it  is  still  true  that,  within  the  scope 
of  our  narrow  powers  and  opportunities,  the 

'  Principles  of  Geology.  By  Sir  Charles  Lyell.  New  York  : 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1858.     Page  799. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.    I  I  I 

supreme  Intelligence  reveals  to  us  in  nature 
his  power  and  divinity  ;  and  it  is  this,  and 
this  alone,  that  gives  attraction  and  dignity  to 
natural  science."  ' 

*'  Christianity  itself  is,  .  .  .  not  so  much  a 
revelation  of  the  supernatural,  as  the  highest 
bond  of  the  great  unity  of  nature.  It  reveals 
to  us  the  perfect  Man,  who  is  also  one  with 
God,  and  the  mission  of  this  divine  Man  to 
restore  the  harmonies  of  God  and  humanity, 
and  consequently,  also,  of  man  with  his  natural 
environment  in  this  world,  and  with  his 
spiritual  environment  in  the  higher  world  of 
the  future."  ' 

Sir  Humphry  Davy,  chemist,  was  born  at 
Penzance,  England,  December  17,  1778,  and 
died  May  28,  1829. 

He  is  best  known  by  his  invention,  in  18 15, 
of  the  safety  lamp  for  miners,  the  use  of 
which  has  undoubtedly  saved  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  lives.  For  this  invention,  which  he 
refused  to  patent,  he  was  presented  by  the 
Russian  emperor  with  a  splendid  vase,  accom- 
panied with  a  personal  letter.  He  also  dis- 
covered several  chemical  elements. 

'  Some  Salient  Points  in  the  Science  of  the  EaHh.  By  Sir 
J.  W.  Dawson,  C.M.G.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S.,  etc.  New 
York:  Harper  &  Brothers.    1894.    Page  6.     "^Ibid.    Page  495. 


112         CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

He  was  the  friend  of  Humboldt,  Laplace, 
and  other  scientists.  Cuvier  said  of  him : 
**  Davy,  not  yet  thirty-two  years  of  age,  in  the 
opinion  of  all  who  could  judge  of  such  labors, 
held  the  first  rank  among  the  chemists  of  this 
or  any  other  country." 

As  to  his  sympathy  with  religion  Davy  said  : 
**  I  am  never  more  delighted  than  when  I  am 
able  to  deduce  any  moral  and  religious  conclu- 
sions from  philosophical  truths.  Science  is  val- 
uable for  many  reasons ;  but  there  is  nothing 
that  gives  it  so  high  and  dignified  a  character 
as  the  means  which  it  affords  of  interpreting 
the  works  of  nature  so  as  to  unfold  the  wis- 
dom and  glory  of  the  Creator."  ' 

"The  simple  and  fundamental  truths  of  the 
Christian  religion  are  perfectly  intelligible ; 
namely,  the  unity  of  God,  the  necessity  of 
morality,  and  the  future  state  of  retribution 
founded  on  the  resurrection."  ' 

''  Of  all  the  religions  which  have  operated 
on  the  human  mind,  Christianity  alone  has 
the  consistent  character  of  perfect  truth ;  all 
its  parts  are  arranged  with  the  most  beautiful 
symmetry;  and    its   grand    effects   have  been 

*  Collected  Works  of  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  Bart,  By  his 
brother,  John  Davy,  M.D.,  F.R.S.  London:  Smith,  Elder 
&  Co.     1839.     Vol.  i,  page  128. 

2  Ibid.     Page  19. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.     II  3 

constantly  connected  with  virtuous  gratifica- 
tion, with  moral  and  intellectual  improvement, 
with  the  present  and  future  happiness."  ^ 

Michael  Faraday,  chemist,  was  born  at  New- 
ington  Butts,  England,  September  22,  1791, 
and  died  August  25,  1867. 

He  was  one  of  the  most  expert  chemists  of 
any  age,  produced  many  new  and  rare  chem- 
icals, and  was  the  author  of  several  score  of 
articles  on  chemical  subjects,  which  were  pub- 
lished by  the  Royal  Society.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  numerous  learned  societies,  and  was 
honored  with  various  degrees  from  both  Ox- 
ford and  Cambridge. 

Once  a  poor  errand  boy,  a  newspaper  car- 
rier, he  afterward  received  nearly  a  hundred 
honorary  titles  and  marks  of  merit,  and  had 
the  honor  of  a  government  pension  and  a  resi- 
dence in  Hampton  court  palace. 

A  letter  to  his  niece  contains  these  words  : 
"  I  cannot  think  that  death  has  to  the  Chris- 
tian anything  in  it  that  should  make  it  a  rare 
or  other  than  a  constant  thought.  .  .  .  My 
worldly  faculties  are  slipping  away  day  by 
day.     Happy  it  is  for  all  of  us  that  the  true 

'  Collected  Works  of  Sir  Ihtmphry  Davy,  Bart.  By  his 
brother,  John  Davy,  M.D.,  F.R.S.  London:  Smith,  Elder 
&  Co.     1839.     Vol.  i,  page  144. 


114         CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

goodness  lies  not  in  them.  As  they  ebb  may 
they  leave  us  as  little  children,  trusting  in  the 
Father  of  mercies  and  accepting  his  unspeak- 
able gift."  ' 

When  the  dark  shadows  were  creeping  over 
him  he  wrote  to  the  Comte  de  Paris  thus : 
*'  I  bow  before  him  who  is  Lord  of  all,  and 
hope  to  be  kept  waiting  patiently  for  his  time 
and  mode  of  releasing  me,  according  to  his 
divine  word  and  the  great  and  precious  prom- 
ises whereby  his  people  are  made  partakers 
of  the  divine  nature."" 

Carl  von  Linne,  or  Linnaeus,  botanist,  was 
born  near  Rashult,  Sweden,  May  13,  1707,  and 
died  January  10,  1778. 

To  him  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the 
only  individual  of  his  time  who  classified  and 
described  all  the  animals,  plants,  and  minerals 
then  known.  The  fact  of  his  having  accom- 
plished such  a  task  abundantly  proves  his  ex- 
traordinary genius,  energy,  judgment,  and  zeal. 

All  of  his  most  important  works  begin  and 
end  with  some  verse  from  the  Scriptures,  and 
his  diary  contains  many  indications  of  his 
reverence   for   and    gratitude    to    God.     The 

'  Li/e  and  Letters  of  Faraday.  By  Dr.  Bence-Jones. 
Philadelphia:  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.  1870.  Vol.  ii,  pages 
429,430.  '^  Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  477. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  VvORLD.     II5 

first  time  he  crossed  Putney  Heath,  England, 
the  sight  of  the  gorse  blossom  in  its  blaze  of 
May  made  him  fall  on  his  knees  in  rapture  to 
thank  God  for  making  anything  so  beautiful. 

On  June  24,  1731,  O.  S.,  while  in  Lapland, 
he  wrote  in  his  diary:  "Blessed  be  the  Lord 
for  the  beauty  of  summer  and  of  spring,  and 
for  what  is  here  in  greater  perfection  than 
almost  anywhere  else  in  the  world — the  air, 
the  water,  the  verdure  of  the  herbage,  and  the 
song  of  birds."  * 

He  concluded  the  record  of  the  occurrences 
of  his  life  with  these  words  :  "  The  Lord  was 
with  thee  wherever  thou  didst  go."  ^ 

Asa  Gray,  American  botanist,  was  born  in 
Paris,  N.  Y.,  November  18,  1810,  and  died  Jan- 
uary 30,  1888. 

His  text-books  are  so  well  known,  and  have 
been  studied  by  so  many  millions  of  students, 
that  his  name  is  a  household  word,  and  no 
one  outranked  him  in  his  specialty. 

In  his  Natural  Science  and  Religion  he  says : 
"  An  excellent  judge,  a  gifted  adept  in  phys- 
ical science  and  exact  reasoning,  the  late  Clerk 
Maxwell,   is  reputed   to  have    said,  not    long 

'  Through  the  Fields  with  Linncevs.     By  Florence  Caddy. 
Boston  :  Little,  Brown  &  Co.     1887.     Vol.  i,  page  179. 
"^  Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  359. 


IIO         CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

before  he  left  the  world  that  he  had  scruti- 
nized all  the  agnostic  hypotheses  he  knew  of, 
and  found  that  they  one  and  all  needed  a 
God  to  make  them  workable."' 

**  However  we  may  differ  in  regard  to  the 
earlier  stages  of  religious  development,  we 
shall  agree  in  this,  that  revelation  culminated, 
and  for  us  most  essentially  consists,  in  the 
advent  of  a  divine  Person,  who,  being  made 
man,  manifested  the  divine  nature  in  union 
with  the  human  ;  and  that  this  manifestation 
constitutes  Christianity.  Having  accepted  the 
doctrine  of  the  incarnation,  itself  the  crowning 
miracle,  attendant  miracles  are  not  obstacles 
to  belief."' 

Baron  George  Leopold  Chretien  Frederic 
Dagobert  Cuvier,  naturalist,  was  born  at  Mont- 
b^liard,  France,  August  23,  1769,  and  died  at 
Paris  May  13,  1832. 

When  twelve  years  old  he  was  as  familiar 
with  quadrupeds  and  birds  as  many  natural- 
ists. He  drew  and  colored  representations  of 
insects,  birds,  and  plants  with  surprising  cor- 
rectness and  fidelity.  He  originated  the  cele- 
brated collection   of  comparative   anatomy  in 

'  Natural    Science    and  Religion.     By   Asa    Gray.     New 
York  :  C.  Scribner's  Sons.     1880.     Page  91. 
^Ibid.     Page  108. 


CHAxMPIONS  FROM  SCIP:NTIFIC  WORLD.     11/ 

the  Museum  of  Natural  History  of  Paris,  and 
was  made  by  Napoleon  one  of  the  councilors 
of  the  Imperial  University.  His  work  on 
Fossil  Remains,  published  in  1812,  revolution- 
ized the  study  of  geology. 

One  honor  or  office  after  another  was  con- 
ferred upon  him,  and  he  numbered  among  his 
friends  and  correspondents  the  most  learned 
men  of  his  time.  The  publication  of  his  mag- 
nificent work  on  ichthyology  was  begun  in 
1828;  it  contained  descriptions  of  several 
thousand  fishes  not  previously  described.  In 
zoology  and  entomology  he  was  equally  at 
home,  and  he  discovered  many  new  classes  in 
both  these  departments  of  science.  He  ex- 
posed many  errors  connected  with  the  discov- 
eries of  fossil  remains,  while  his  own  conjec- 
tures as  to  the  form  and  size  of  certain  extinct 
animals  were  repeatedly  verified. 

His  lectures  on  various  subjects  showed 
great  familiarity  with  the  Bible,  and  he  was 
one  of  the  vice  presidents  of  the  Bible  Society. 
In  his  introduction  to  the  history  of  those 
awarded  prizes  in  virtue  by  the  French  Acad- 
emy he  said :  "'  We  read  in  the  holy  writings, 
*Love  God  above  all  things,  and  your  neigh- 
bors as  yourselves ;  the  law  and  the  prophets 
are  contained  in  these  two  precepts.'  Thus,  he 
who  has  followed  these  precepts  is  virtuous ; 


Il8         CHAMPIONS   OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

he  will  have  accomplished  the  entire  law. 
Now,  what  is  it  to  love  God?  How  can  we 
prove  that  we  love  him  ?  It  is  by  conforming 
to  his  will,  by  doing  that  which  he  orders.  And 
the  first  thing  which  he  commands  us  to  do, 
after  loving  him,  is  to  love  our  neighbors  as 
ourselves ;  and  our  neighbors  are  all  men,  with- 
out distinction  or  exception,  as  the  Gospel  also 
teaches  us  in  the  parable  of  the  Samaritan."  * 

Louis  Jean  Rudolphe  Agassiz,  naturalist, 
was  born  at  Motier,  Switzerland,  May  28,  1807, 
and  died  December  14,  1873. 

He  was  confessedly  one  of  the  greatest  scien- 
tists of  all  time.  He  originated  the  accepted 
glacial  theory,  and  is  the  author  of  numerous 
works.  Of  these  the  most  notable  are  Fossil 
Fishes  2iX\d  Contributions  to  the  Natural  History 
of  the  United  States. 

Concerning  his  belief  and  practice  he  de- 
clared :  "  For  myself  I  may  say  that  I  now 
never  make  the  preparations  for  penetrating 
into  some  small  province  of  nature  hitherto 
undiscovered  without  breathing  a  prayer  to 
the  Being  who  hides  his  secrets  from  me  only 
to  allure  me  graciously  on  to  the  unfolding  of 
them.     I  sometimes  hear  preachers  speak  of 

'  Memoirs  of  Baron  Cuvier.    By  Mrs.  R.  Lee.    New  York  ; 
J.  &  J.  Harper.     1833.     Page  86. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.     I  I9 

the  sad  condition  of  men  who  live  without 
God  in  the  world;  but  a  scientist  who  lives 
without  God  in  the  world  seems  to  me  worse 
off  than  ordinary  men."  * 

In  one  of  his  works  he  says :  '*  The  products 
of  what  are  commonly  called  physical  agents 
are  everywhere  the  same  (that  is,  upon  the 
whole  surface  of  the  globe),  and  have  always 
been  the  same  (that  is,  during  all  geological 
periods),  while  organized  beings  are  every- 
where different,  and  have  differed  in  all  ages. 
Between  two  such  series  of  phenomena  there 
can  be  no  casual  or  genetic  connection. 

**  The  combination  in  time  and  space  of  all 
these  thoughtful  conceptions  exhibits  not  only 
thought,  it  shows  also  premeditation,  power, 
wisdom,  greatness,  prescience,  omniscience, 
providence.  In  one  word,  all  these  facts  in 
their  natural  connection  proclaim  aloud  the  one 
God,  whom  man  may  know,  adore,  and  love ; 
and  natural  history  must  in  good  time  become 
the  analysis  of  the  thoughts  of  the  Creator  of 
the  universe,  as  manifested  in  the  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdoms."  ' 

"^Recollections  of  Eminent  Men.  Ey  E.  P.  Whipple.  Bos- 
ton :  Ticknor  &  Co.      1887.     Page  96. 

'  Contribttiions  to  the  Natural  History  of  the  United  States 
of  America.  By  Louis  Agassiz.  Boston  :  Little,  Brown  & 
Co.     1857.     Vol.  i,  page  135. 


I20         CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

Alexander  Wilson,  ornithologist,  was  born 
at  Paisley,  Scotland,  July  6,  1766,  and  died 
August  23,  1813. 

Largely  self-educated,  he  was  highly  es- 
teemed as  a  poet  and  artist,  as  well  as  a  stu- 
dent of  bird  life.  He  was  the  first  to  publish 
a  work  on  American  ornithology,  supplemen- 
tary volumes  to  this  work  being  added  by 
Prince  Charles  Lucien  Bonaparte,  a  nephew  of 
the  great  Napoleon.  A  statue  in  honor  of 
Wilson  is  erected  in  his  native  town. 

In  a  letter  to  a  friend  he  says  :  *'  God  visits 
those  with  distress  whose  enjoyments  he 
wishes  to  render  more  exquisite.  The  storms 
of  affliction  do  not  last  forever,  and  sweet  is 
the  serene  air  and  warm  sunshine  after  a  day 
of  darkness  and  tempest.  ...  It  is  our  duty 
to  bow  with  humble  resignation  to  the  deci- 
sions of  the  great  Father  of  all,  rather  receiv- 
ing with  gratitude  the  blessings  he  is  pleased 
to  bestow  than  repining  at  the  loss  he  thinks 
proper  to  take  from  us."* 

In  an  essay  on  ornithology  he  says :  *'  Men 
join  with  reverence  in  praises  to  the  great  Cre- 
ator; and  can  they  listen  with  contempt  to  the 
melodious  strains,  the  hymns  of  praise,  which 

^  Memoirs  and  Remains  of  Alexander  Wilson,  By  Rev. 
A.  B.  Grosart.  Paisley  :  Alexander  Gardner.  1876.  Vol.  i, 
page  105. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.     12  1 

these  joyful  little  creatures  [the  birds]  offer  up 
every  morning  to  the  Fountain  of  life  and 
light?  .  .  .  Are  tenderness  of  heart,  fidelity, 
and  parental  affection  only  lovely  when  they 
exist  among  men  ?  O,  no ;  it  is  impossible  I 
These  virtues,  that  are  esteemed  the  highest 
ornaments  of  our  nature,  seem  to  be  emana- 
tions from  the  Divinity  himself,  and  may  be 
traced  in  many  of  the  humblest  and  least  re- 
garded of  his  creatures."  * 

John  James  Audubon,  ornithologist,  was 
born  in  Louisiana  May  4,  1780,  and  died  Jan- 
uary 27,  185 1. 

His  work,  Birds  of  America^  a  most  ele- 
gantly and  expensively  illustrated  production, 
and  not  less  accurate  than  elegant,  was  pro- 
nounced by  Baron  Cuvier  to  be  the  most 
splendid  monument  which  had  ever  been 
erected  in  honor  of  ornithology.  Its  price 
was  $1,000,  and  that  it  found  numerous  pur- 
chasers in  days  when  money  was  far  from 
plentiful  is  the  best  evidence  of  its  attractive- 
ness and  worth. 

In  the  obtaining  of  living  originals  for  his 
sketches  and  paintings  he  traversed  the  woods 

'  Memoirs  and  Remains  of  Alexander  Wilson.  By  Rev. 
A.  B.  Grosart.  Paisley :  Alexander  Gardner.  1876.  Vol.  i, 
page  257. 


122         CHAMPIONS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

and  shores  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and 
endured  privations  and  dangers  that  would 
have  discouraged  others.  A  conscientious 
determination  to  describe  and  illustrate  his 
theme  with  accuracy  and  fullness  was  the  im- 
pulse that  gave  him  success  and  fame. 

Whether  in  his  own  land  or  across  the  sea 
he  was  always  in  possession  of  a  reverential 
spirit.  In  speaking  of  an  artist  who  was 
pleased  with  his  work  he  said  :  **  The  reason 
why  my  works  pleased  him  was  because  they 
are  all  exact  copies  of  the  works  of  God,  who 
is  the  great  Architect  and  perfect  Artist." 

In  his  journal  he  speaks  of  hearing  a  sermon 
in  London  by  the  noted  Sydney  Smith,  and 
says :  ''  It  was  a  sermon  to  me.  .  .  .  He 
made  me  smile,  and  he  made  me  think  more 
deeply,  perhaps,  than  I  had  ever  before  in  my 
life.  He  interested  me  by  painting  my  foibles, 
and  then  he  pained  me  by  portraying  my  sins, 
until  he  made  my  cheeks  crimson  with  shame 
and  filled  my  heart  with  penitential  sorrow; 
and  I  left  the  church  filled  with  veneration  for 
God  and  reverence  for  the  wonderful  man 
who  is  so  noble  an  example  of  his  marvelous 
handiwork."  ' 

On    his  arrival  at  New  York,  after  a   pro- 

^Zt/e  of  John  James   Attdubon.     Edited  by  his  Widow. 
New  York  :  G.  P.  Putnam  &  Son.     1869.     Page  141. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.     123 

longed  tarry  in  England,  he  says :  "  I  clasped 
my  hands  and  fell  on  my  knees,  and  raising 
my  eyes  to  heaven — that  happy  land  above — 
I  offered  my  thanks  to  our  God  that  he  had 
preserved  and  prospered  me  in  my  long 
absence."  * 

Sir  Isaac  Newton,  physicist  and  mathema- 
tician, was  born  at  Woolsthorpe,  England, 
December  25,  1642,  and  died  March  20,  1727. 

In  the  autumn  of  1665,  when  only  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  the  sight  of  an  apple  falling 
from  a  tree  suggested  to  him  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation, and  his  powers  of  thought  and  reason 
were  such  that  he  was  able  to  formulate  the 
existence  of  a  law  which,  before,  had  existed 
only  in  the  mind  of  the  Infinite. 

His  great  work,  Principia,  discusses  math- 
ematical questions  of  such  an  abstruse  na- 
ture that  but  few  persons  can  master  its  con- 
tents ;  indeed  nearly  all  his  researches  dealt  in 
questions  requiring  clear  and  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  a  large  variety  of  uncommon 
subjects. 

In  one  of  his  dissertations  he  says  :  "  Oppo- 
site to  godliness  is  atheism  in  profession  and 
idolatry    in  practice.      Atheism    is   so    sense- 

>  Life  of  John  James  Audubon.  Edited  by  his  Widow. 
New  York  :  G.  P.  Putnam  &  Son.     1869.     Page  1S3. 


124         CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

less  and  odious  to  mankind  that  it  never  had 
many  professors."  ^ 

Once,  when  religion  was  spoken  of  with  dis- 
respect, he  said,  "  I  have  studied  these  things ; 
you  have  not."  ^ 

In  his  "  Short  Scheme  of  True  Religion " 
he  says  :  "  We  are  therefore  to  acknowledge 
one  God,  infinite,  eternal,  omnipresent,  om- 
niscient, omnipotent,  the  Creator  of  all  things, 
most  wise,  most  just,  most  good,  most  holy. 
We  must  love  him,  fear  him,  honor  him,  trust 
in  him,  pray  to  him,  give  him  thanks,  praise 
him,  hallow  his  name,  obey  his  commandments, 
and  set  times  apart  for  his  service."  ' 

** '  To  us  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father, 
of  whom  are  all  things ;  and  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  by  whom  are  all  things,'  and  we  by 
him;'  that  is,  we  are  to  worship  the  Father 
alone  as  God  Almighty,  and  Jesus  alone  as  the 
Lord,  the  Messiah,  the  great  King,  the  Lamb 
of  God,  who  was  slain,  and  hath  redeemed  us 
with  his  blood,  and  made  us  kings  and 
priests."* 

^  Memoirs  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  By  Sir  David  Brewster, 
K.H.  Edinburgh:  Thomas  Constable  &  Co.  1855.  Vol.  ii. 
page  347- 

'  Ibid.     Vol,  ii,  page  408. 

*  Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  348. 

*  Ibid.     Vol.  ii,  page  350. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.    12$ 

Sir  William  Rowan  Hamilton,  mathemati- 
cian, was  bom  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  August  4, 
1805,  and  died  September  2,  1865. 

From  early  boyhood  to  old  age  he  was  a 
most  remarkable  scholar.  At  five  years  of 
age  he  was  reading  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin; 
at  eight  years  of  age  he  had  added  the  study 
of  French  and  Italian,  and  at  ten  he  was  also 
studying  Arabic  and  Sanskrit.  When  only 
fourteen  he  was  systematically  studying  astron- 
omy and  making  nightly  observations  with  a 
telescope,  connecting  with  them  abstruse  and 
difficult  calculations.  At  this  same  period  he 
literally  enjoyed  performing  in  his  mind  long 
arithmetical  problems,  extracting  the  square 
and  cube  roots  without  the  aid  of  pencil  or 
paper.  Yet  he  was  full  of  humor  and  greatly 
enjoyed  athletic  sports. 

Through  these  years  he  was  an  omnivorous 
reader,  and  took  down,  in  shorthand,  sermons, 
speeches,  and  addresses.  Before  he  was  twenty- 
one  he  wrote  papers  which  were  read  before, 
and  commended  by,  different  learned  societies. 

When  only  sixteen  years  old,  writing  to  his 
sister,  he  said  :  "  In  studying  conic  sections 
and  other  parts  of  geometry  I  have  often 
been  struck  with  the  occurrence  of  what  may 
be  called  demonstrated  mysteries,  since,  though 
they  are  proved  by  rigidly  mathematical  proof, 
9 


126         CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  conceive  how 
they  can  be  true.  ...  If,  therefore,  within 
the  very  domain  of  that  science  which  is  most 
within  the  grasp  of  human  reason,  which  rests 
on  the  firm  pillars  of  demonstration,  and  is 
totally  removed  from  doubt  or  dispute,  there 
are  truths  which  we  cannot  comprehend,  why 
should  we  suppose  that  we  can  understand 
everything  connected  with  the  nature  and  at- 
tributes of  an  infinite  Being  ?  *  For  if  ye  un- 
derstand not  earthly  things,  how  shall  ye  those 
that  are  heavenly  ?  *  "  * 

In  a  letter  to  Wordsworth,  in  speaking  of  one 
who  was  studying  Plato,  Mr.  Hamilton  says : 
**  I  trust  that,  while  he  thus  unspheres  the 
spirit  of  Plato,  to  unfold  the  discoveries  that 
have  been  made  by  the  light  of  ancient  reason, 
he  will  not  imitate  some  modern  Platonists  in 
despising  that  better  light  which  has  since 
risen  on  man,  and  which,  though  by  the  Greeks 
deemed  foolishness,  we  know  to  be  indeed  the 
power  and  the  wisdom  of  God." ' 

In  another  letter,  in  referring  to  Dr.  Chan- 
ning,  he  says :  "  Others,  who  have  searched  far 
more  than  he  has  done  into  the  heights  and 

^  Life  of  Sir  William  Roxvan  Hamilton,  Kt.,  LL.D,, 
D.C.L.,  M.R.I.A.,  etc.  By  Robert  Perceval  Graves,  M.A. 
Dublin  :  Hodges,  Figgis  &  Co.     1882.     Page  92. 

^Jbid.     Page  331, 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.    12/ 

depths  of  thought,  have  been  compelled  to 
acknowledge  mysteries  of  reason  which  pre- 
pare for  and  harmonize  with  the  mysteries 
ascribed  to  religion  by  the  great  body  of  the 
Christian  Church ;  they  have  felt  that  the  in- 
carnation and  passion  are  not  incredible  to 
those  who  believe  and  meditate  on  the  earlier 
mystery  of  creation."  * 

James  Watt,  inventor,  was  born  at  Green- 
ock, Scotland,  January  19,  1736,  and  died  Au- 
gust 19,  1819. 

His  invention  of  the  steam  engine  relieved 
both  man  and  beast  of  toils  innumerable,  and 
introduced  conditions  that  have  blessed  the 
world. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  said  of  him,  *'  He  was  not 
only  the  most  profound  man  of  science,  but 
one  of  the  kindest  of  human  beings."  Words- 
worth, twenty  years  after  Watt's  death,  said 
of  him,  "  I  look  upon  him,  considering  both 
the  magnitude  and  universality  of  his  genius, 
as  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  man  that 
this  country  has  produced."  Sir  James  Mack- 
intosh placed  him  **  at  the  head  of  all  inventors 
in  all  ages  and  nations." 

^  Life  of  Sir  William  Rowan  Hamilton,  Kt.,  LL.D.^ 
D.C.L.,  M.R.I. A.,  etc.  By  Robert  Perceval  Graves,  M.A. 
Dublin  :  Hodges,  Figgis  &  Co.    1882.     Page  465. 


128         CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

A  colossal  statue  was  erected  in  his  honor 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  the  inscription  on  it 
being  written  by  Lord  Brougham. 

On  hearing  of  the  death  of  a  friend  he 
wrote :  "We  may  all  pray  that  our  latter  end 
may  be  like  his ;  he  has  truly  gone  to  sleep  in 
the  arms  of  his  Creator.  .  .  .  Let  us  cherish 
the  friends  we  have  left,  and  do  as  much  good 
as  we  can  in  our  day."  * 

At  another  time  he  wrote :  "  I,  in  particular, 
have  reason  to  thank  God  that  he  has  pre- 
served me  so  well  as  I  am.  ...  I  can  offer 
no  other  consolations  than  what  are  derived 
from  religion." ' 

Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse,  electrician,  was 
born  at  Charlestown,  Mass.,  April  29,  1791,  and 
died  April  2,  1 872. 

His  invention  of  the  electric  telegraph 
brought  great  advantages  to  the  entire  world, 
and  upon  no  inventor  were  greater  honors 
showered.  The  Sultan  of  Turkey  sent  him 
the  decoration  of  the  Order  of  Glory.  Italy 
bestowed  the  cross  of  a  Knight  of  Maurizio 
and  Lazaro  ;  Prussia,  the  gold  medal  for  Scien- 
tific Merit ;  Spain,  the  cross  of  Knight  Com- 

'  Life  of  James  Watt.    By  James  Patrick  Muirhead.     New 
York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1859.     Page  397. 
"^  Ibid,     Page  399. 


CHAMPIONS  FROM  SCIENTIFIC  WORLD.    1 29 

mander  of  the  Order  of  Isabella ;  Austria,  a 
gold  medal ;  Portugal,  the  cross  of  a  Knight 
of  the  Tower  and  Sword ;  and  the  governments 
of  France,  Austria,  Belgium,  the  Netherlands, 
Sardinia,  Tuscany,  the  Holy  See,  Russia,  Swe- 
den, and  Turkey  united  in  the  gift  of  four  hun- 
dred thousand  francs. 

At  a  public  banquet  given  him  in  1868  he 
said :  "  If  not  a  sparrow  fall  to  the  ground 
without  a  definite  purpose  in  the  plans  of  in- 
finite Wisdom,  can  the  creation  of  an  instru- 
ment [the  telegraph]  so  vitally  affecting  the  in- 
terests of  the  whole  human  race  have  an  origin 
less  humble  than  the  Father  of  every  good  and 
perfect  gift  ?  I  am  sure  I  have  the  sympathy 
of  such  an  assembly  as  is  here  gathered  to- 
gether if,  in  all  humility,  and  in  the  sincerity 
of  a  grateful  heart,  I  use  the  words  of  inspira- 
tion in  ascribing  honor  and  praise  to  Him  to 
whom,  first  of  all  and  most  of  all,  it  is  pre- 
eminently due:  'Not  unto  us,  not  unto  us, 
but  to  God,  be  all  the  glory'— not,  *What 
hath  man  done  ? '  but,  *  What  hath  God 
wrought  ? ' " ^ 

Rev.  Dr.  William  Adams,  of  New  York,  of 
whose  church  Mr.  Morse  was  a  member, 
speaking  of  his  last  days,  says :  "  At  the  holy 

""  Lives  of  Electricians.  By  William  T.  Jeans.  London: 
Whittaker  &  Co.     1887.     Page  315. 


I30         CHAMPIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

communion,  ...  at  the  close  of  the  service,  he 
approached  me  with  more  than  usual  warmth 
and  pressure  of  the  hand,  and,  with  a  beaming 
countenance,  said,  '  O,  this  is  something  better 
than  standing  before  princes.*  ...  At  another 
time  he  said,  '  I  love  to  be  studying  the  guide- 
book of  the  country  to  which  I  am  going ;  I 
wish  to  know  more  and  more  about  it.'  A 
few  days  before  his  decease,  in  the  privacy  of 
his  chamber,  I  spoke  to  him  of  the  great  good- 
ness of  God  to  him  in  his  remarkable  life. 
'Yes,  so  good,  so  good,'  was  the  quick  response, 
'  and  the  best  part  of  all  is  yet  to  come.'  "  * 

'  Livfs  of  Electricians.     By  "William  T.  Jeans.     London : 
Whittaker  &  Co.     1887.     Pages  320,  321. 


Zhc  Swarb, 


THE   AWARD.  1 33 


CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Award* 

CHAMPIONS  like  these  are  necessarily 
victorious.  Many  of  the  challenges  are 
evidently  spontaneous  and  unpremeditated, 
given  with  easy  naturalness  in  letters  and  con- 
versations with  intimates;  others  are  clearly 
the  result  of  a  distinct  purpose  to  emphasize 
a  personal  belief  in  Christianity  and  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Some  represent  the  flush  of  youth, 
some  the  vigor  of  manhood,  and  others  the 
matured  thought  of  a  long  and  vigorous  life  ; 
in  some  the  intellect,  and  in  others  the  heart, 
finds  expression ;  and,  taken  singly  or  together, 
they  are  strong,  convincing,  overwhelming. 

The  variety,  range,  and  scope  of  the  utter- 
ances give  them  greatly  increased  force,  and, 
combined,  they  exhibit  all  the  tenderness, 
faith,  and  devotion  that  the  most  simple- 
hearted  Christian  could  desire.  Men  from  land 
and  sea,  from  city  and  country,  from  hamlet 
and  metropolis,  from  occupations  pursued  in 
the  quiet  of  study  and  laboratory  cloistered 
from  the  world   and  from  amid  all  forms  of 


134        CHAMPIONS    OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

business  activity;  philosophers  and  investiga- 
tors of  things  tangible  and  intangible,  animate 
and  inanimate,  in  earth  and  sea  and  sky,  some 
educated  in  the  schools,  and  others  only  by 
contact  with  the  world ;  men  who  unraveled 
the  most  secret  operations  of  nature,  and  were 
familiar  with  the  inmost  workings  of  the  human 
frame,  nay,  even  with  the  sources  of  life — all 
defend  the  same  religious  truths. 

Many  of  these  champions  were  accustomed 
to  observe  nature  in  all  her  moods  and  mani- 
festations. Some  watched  the  storm  clouds, 
analyzed  their  contents,  and  drew  their  light- 
ning ;  others  peered  into  the  deepest  blue  of 
the  heavens,  followed  the  stars  in  their  courses, 
and  marked  their  paths. 

Some  were  men  of  affairs,  accustomed  to 
weigh  and  decide  matters  of  the  highest  judi- 
cial and  national  importance.  Others  possessed 
the  keenest  of  intellects,  and  were  known  and 
recognized  as  the  coolest  and  clearest  of 
thinkers,  with  analytic  minds  and  of  unanswer- 
able logic. 

These  men,  some  born  amid  high  social 
surroundings,  and  others  in  direst  poverty, 
titled  and  untitled,  engaged  in  varied  voca- 
tions, amid  peculiar  surroundings,  and  under 
such  circumstances  that  they  literally  com- 
passed the  world*s  thought  and  work  ;  men  of 


THE    AWARD.  1 35 

every  age  and  clime,  nationality  and  environ- 
ment, stand  together  in  defense  of  Christian- 
ity and  the  Bible.  When  such  men  champion 
Christianity,  we  may  well  believe  that  all  who 
oppose  it  lead  a  forlorn  hope  and  essay  an  im- 
possible task.  All  hail  our  King  and  Ruler! 
Hail  to  our  Lord  and  Christ !  Hail,  Saviour 
of  mankind ! 


IN  DEX. 

PAGE 

Agassiz,  Louis  J.  R ii8 

Agnew,  D.  Hayes 44 

AUston,  Washington 60 

Angelo,  Michael  (Buonarroti) 59 

Audubon,  John  J 121 

Bewick,  Thomas 62 

Bismarck,  Count  von 19 

Blackstone,  Sir  William 23 

Blake,  Robert 29 

Brewster,  Sir  David  104 

Bryant,  William  Cullen 79 

Buonarotti,  Michael  Angelo 59 

Carlyle,  Thomas 90 

Caxton,  William 76 

Cooper,  Anthony  Ashley 38 

Cuvier,  Baron 116 

Davy,  Sir  Humphry in 

Dawson,  Sir  J.  W no 

Dickens,  Charles 97 

Dodge,  William  E 48 

Durer,  Albert 61 

Ebers,  Georg 84 

Erskine,  Lord  Thomas. 46 

Faraday,  Michael 113 

Farragut,  David  G 31 


138  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Galilei,  Galileo loi 

Garibaldi,  Guiseppe 22 

Gladstone,  William  E 20 

Grant,  Ulysses  S 27 

Gray,  Asa I15 

Guizot,  Francois  P.  G 91 

Gutenberg,  John 75 

Hamilton,  Sir  William  Rowan 125 

Handel,  Sir  George  Frederick 70 

Harvey,  William 40 

Haydn,  Joseph 71 

Henry,  Joseph 106 

Herschell,  Sir  J.  F.  W 103 

Holland,  Josiah  G 77 

Howard,  John 37 

Jenner,  Edward 41 

Johnson,  Samuel 86 

Lepsius,  Richard 83 

Linne  (Linnaeus),  Carl  von 114 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles 108 

Milton,  John 93 

Moltke,  Count  Von 27 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B 128 

Muller,  F.  Max 80 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac 123 

Palissy,  Bernard 63 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter 52 

Sayce,  Archibald  Henry 82 

Scott,  Sir  George  Gilbert 69 

Scott,  Sir  Walter 96 


INDEX.  139 

PAGE 

Simpson,  Sir  James  Y 42 

Stanley,  Henry  M 53 

Story,  Joseph 25 

Washington,  George 2i 

Watt,  James 127 

Webster,   Daniel 47 

Webster,  Noah 88 

Wedgwood,  Josiah 66 

Whittier,  John  G 94 

Williams,  Sir  George 49 

Wilson,  Alexander 120 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher 68 


